how do we get outside draw horses back in the game?

[bond]

Harness racing as we know it now-is not doing well-its in the intensive care ward.
How do we get it out?
1) Besides mismanagement of the highest order at the top-the one thing we can do to get people more interested and handicappers/gamblers betting more-is to figure out ways to get the outside horses in the race.
Most races these days the way the race is run its-1)Leave hard 2)Back up the second 1/4 and 3rd if you can then 3) sprint home.
This eliminates the backmarkers and is the MAIN reason for the drop in handle-as races only have 2-3 horses in it that gamblers seem to want to bet.
2) Getting people to bet outside horses obviously needs to change-and pronto.
3) Do we a) Hand out betting incentives to bet the 7-8 horses
               b) dont allow drivers to pick horses-but they are drawn out of a barrel 20 minutes before a race?
               c)Use a slanted gate?
               d) change the distance to 1 1/16th
               e)Change the way the starting gate moves-ie increase the speed(like Pocono?
               f) Give drivers 10% extra if they win out of 7-8 holes?

whats the consensus?? Serious please we have enough haters IMHO
 

[Refusedtopace]

Not a hater, been in the game as an O-T-D since 1973, still own a few. IMHO, nobody that can initiate change want to initiate change. Everybody in power just wants to ride the train as long as they can. You need new young blood with creative ideas in any business. Those people don’t even know harness exists. I applaud you for your ideas and caring. However, it’s not IMO ever going to get any better. Too crooked, too much drugs, too much dominance by a few, and on and on. When decoupling happens (and it will) that will be the death of racing as we know it.

[HornbyDuke]

Not a hater, been in the game as an O-T-D since 1973, still own a few. IMHO, nobody that can initiate change want to initiate change. Everybody in power just wants to ride the train as long as they can. You need new young blood with creative ideas in any business. Those people don’t even know harness exists. I applaud you for your ideas and caring. However, it’s not IMO ever going to get any better. Too crooked, too much drugs, too much dominance by a few, and on and on. When decoupling happens (and it will) that will be the death of racing as we know it.

Sensible advice. Read an article posted on here a few weeks back that said Australian harness racing did well after sports betting was legalized. What did the down under gang do?

Imho as an outsider:
1.need mile tracks - a few 1/2 or 5/8 might survive. But the dead wood bleeding $ need to quit siphoning off the industry lifeblood.
2. Oversight needs to be at least semi legitimate. Now it's a joke. You can't have the harness equivalents of Lance Armstrong winning races like LA did Tour de Frances.

[The Exporter]

What about 4 behind 4. What would be the dynamics there?

[PIGLAND]

pet walking needs to stop ,these are races