The enemy of the good

Reinventing yourself is not easy.

That's why Wile E. Coyote never does manage to catch Roadrunner. He is locked in to doing things the way he has always done them. Even when he has a brilliant idea; backed by the laws of physics; with sound engineering and design; his ass always ends up under the ACME anvil.

The hardest part is starting out. As Goethe said:

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
 Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

Innovation and entrepreneurship need not be uncertain endeavours. They are based on economics; market structure; demographics and, as Peter Drucker referred to it, Weltanschauung, perceptions and moods.

According to Drucker, managers need to learn to practice systematic innovation. It consists in the purposeful and organized search for changes, and in the systematic analysis of the opportunities such changes might offer for economic or social innovation.

Racing does not suffer for a dearth of opportunity. It suffers from a lack of effective management. The current circle jerk is either blind or apathetic to the problems that plague racing and unwilling to abrogate the status quo.

Managers are paid to exercise their best judgement as it pertains to the welfare of the organization. They are not expected to be infallible. They are, however, paid to realize and admit when they are wrong. A behavior more common in omission than practice.

The ideas exist. Pick one.

Implement it and see what happens. Run experiments vs control studies. Pick a meet, or several, and play with takeout. See what happens to handle. If handle goes up as takeout goes down, you might have something there. Try to control for confounders.

Gather the major entities and form a federation of sorts with a commissioner, or supreme leader, or high priest or whatever the hell you want to call it. Draft a two or three or five year charter, during which time the game is run as if it were under control of a single organization. Get serious people involved and work out a blanket structure. After the charter period expires, if nothing improved, go back to taking each other out at the knees.

Create a league or two or three. Graded races and then everyone else. Standardize distances. Establish some progression.

Do something. Pick one thing and do it.

I'll do it for you. I have the time.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

"You know, you never handle your luggage in the Show " -Crash Davis

Kerry at Thoroughbredbrief has a great post about owners and responsibility. That made me consider my limited role as an owner and what responsibility I am shouldering.

My wife accuses me of being fastidious. I don't own a watch, the only watches I like cost several thousand dollars and at the end of the day only tell you the time. I can't justify that expense and am never really that hard up to know what time it is so I don't wear a watch.

Fastidious? I think not.

Before I formed Blackwatch Stables LLC (a little headfake), I gave serious thought to how I wanted to approach the business and what type of consultants I would employ. I envisioned rolling hills and immaculate paddocks, my band of broodmares placidly grazing and my one or two insanely successful studs, romping through the fields, their flowing manes matched only by the tendrils of flame shooting from their nostrils.

A few years ago I found a list of trainers on the Hawthorne website, which is far more informative and user friendly than Arlington's in my humble opinion, and contacted several of them. As is usually the case, only one was kind enough to return my call and she invited me to lunch. We talked at length about her background and philosophy and what it was that I wanted to get from all this. In the end, we never worked together because (unlike Fannie May) I could not reconcile my vision to fit within the given parameters of fiduciary obligation. (I didn't have that kind of money)

She steered me in the right direction, admitting that I could get in on a $5000 claimer but that based on what I was presenting to her, that probably was not the way to go. In addition, I did not have recourse to the requisite number of investors, in order to defray the cost of such a venture through a partnership.

I don't think that this server has enough memory available for me to list what I did not know regarding business or the business.

I have started taking riding lessons. I have devoured literature regarding equine exercise physiology, feeding regimens, gaits, conformation and training principles. I bought that study guide for the trainer's test but apparently, in Illinois, you need three years of experience and recommendations from someone in the industry so I am on hold there.

What is so surprising is the amount of contradictory information regarding the care and training philosophy for this majestic animal.

The partnership my partnership is in, seems to be doing the right things. Linda Albert is a conscientious trainer and the managing partner is all about the horse. After we got Imalexus from the sales, she appeared to be a little stressed out so Linda recommended, and we (HAH) all agreed, that the filly get some time on a farm to just decompress and remember what it's like to be a horse again. They could have pushed her into serious training, she handled everything to date so well, but they just figured this was the way to go. To my surprise and amusement, given my knowledge base, I was consulted.

Rebate Stable has done right by me and I ain't got no complaints.

In what I hope does not lead to anyone getting fired and what must surely be a mistake to be rectified forthwith, yours truly has made the Paulick Report. Thank you to whoever you are.

There is so much more I need to learn but that is what this game is all about; it might sound quaint and naive but there is something to doing things right. Nothing is sexier or more awe-inspiring than to watch something, anything, done well and if you haven't seen Maddux pitch or Shoemaker ride, then you haven't seen Shakespeare the way it was meant to be played.