Macedonio: Wasting our top horses in elimination races

Why are we wasting our top athlete superstar’s talent by having them compete in outdated and Neanderthalic elimination races? Before I get into that, let's move into another sport, recreate the situation and see just how silly it sounds!

The biggest boxing match in history is upon us, Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, sure to break every televised pay-per-view record along with an unprecedented media tour and press coverage. People only want to see Conor vs. Floyd, that's all they are paying for. Now imagine if Conor and Floyd each had a fight before this with a lower ranked fighter, and all they basically had to do was not lose! Would anyone watch it or even care? They would absolutely have to take it seriously to not risk injury, and they would have to go all out with a mindset to destroy the competitor in front of them. But what a waste of a fight! Every time these guys set foot in a ring now is special and they deserve top billing and marketing, not a wasteful fight that could shorten their career when no one is watching!

That's basically what we do with Harness Racing elimination races. We waste our top stars prime races on worthless, insignificant, unbettable and unwatchable races! Who is going to watch the Adios Elims? Who watched the Meadowlands Pace Elim? Who watched the Hempt Elims? We all watch the finals, they are typically entertaining and good wagering races. Every time Huntsville, Downbytheseaside and Fear The Dragon step on the track, it should be a HUGE DEAL! We should be privileged to watch these horses compete against each other. Yet in eight races, we're only going to see them compete against each other ONE TIME! The North America Cup might be the best race this year, because that’s the only time the trio races against one another.

Now, why do still have elimination races? It's simple . . . horsemen want the chance to race for big money because they feel they earned the right to enter a race just because they paid into the stakes. They didn't actually earn anything! Most of these horses that are racing at the Adios and Meadowlands Pace don't even deserve to be in the same post parade as those three. These top races need to be protected and our top stars need to be protected.

The simplest way to protect is by fastest record. Here's what it will do. People like knockouts, home runs, big shots and long touchdowns. So give the people exciting races by putting it right in front of them. "Watch the time, it matters!"

Early on in the season, these horses will be gunning for top times in Sire Stakes races or overnights, making them watchable. There can be a standings scoreboard list that we can market and promote each week. The horses can start earlier and get more rest between finals because they won't have these awful elimination races to deal with.

Now here's the thing, and this is where it's important, if you have a horse that's left out of a final, and you're number 11 on the list, deal with it! Don't complain, don't cry. Here's what you do, go train your horse, enter him in a race, and gun for a better time! And guess what, we'll all be watching your horse, because we want to see competition.

Please tell me who loses in this scenario, but if your first words are "my horse" or "me" or "my owner", I don't want to listen, because it's not about you, your horse or your owner, it's about OUR SPORT!