Mac, Rob, Craig, other owners and trainers, I agree that both are equally important but owners have an option not to be owners too and I do not believe that horses choose to race each other in a circle. Owners and horses are not one and very few owners even share any sort of relationship with their horses. Most owners probably cannot even identify their horse without their colours on top. The point is; horses sell on very quickly when they are no longer useful. I am pointing out the fickle nature of the relationship between horse and owner in terms of "horses can only race against other horses" which highlights my point of "the owners have a choice too."
Without punters money, horses being raced on farms would see a breeding industry crumble, trainers, jockeys, grooms, farriers etc reduce dramatically in numbers and in turn the SA horse population decrease. The fact remains, the industry is built on the back of punters money worldwide.
The point of this response is that punters are a faceless mass feeding money to the game, have no representation and are therefore abused. All of the comments above claim an equal footing for both parties in the game yet the industry is steered mostly by owners, often to the detriment of the punter.
The industry will not go away overnight as both parties are unlikely to withdraw en masse. What will happen is an erosion of the punter base first, followed by ownership. It is a reality already!
To get back to the topic, punters are not represented and often get a raw deal from the operators without any real (logical) explanation. In turn they look for better service and value. The open bet is their answer. The open bet is therefore a product of the operators own making. If I were the operator I would be looking to get punter representation on decision making. This is one way to stem the exodus to the open bet.
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