Even though the boycott is off to a decent enough start and Sunday saw them down 30%, and yesterday saw them down 20%, I fully expect them to use "It had nothing to do with the boycott" and "the weather" and "field size was down" as excuses.

So let's keep to the task at hand and remember what we're boycotting for.

We're boycotting because we're trying to send a clear message.

We're boycotting because other tracks are waiting to see what happens and we want them to think twice before having takeout increases of their own.

I'm asking each of you to take it upon yourselves to reach out to other horseplayers.

Tell them about the boycott.

Ask them to join us.

Together we can convince Keeneland to reverse their decision.

Oh, I almost forgot. Last night I had a conversation with a fellow horseplayer who asked me:

"Jeff, If there's one thing you would tell Keeneland they need to be doing different what would that be?"

I thought about it for a minute and said: "Lower takeout. But do it incrementally. And measure the response."

But after I got off the phone it hit me. I really should have said: "Tell them they need to be doing exactly what Kentucky Downs did back in 2013.

They more than tripled their handle over the past five years by taking the novel approach of asking a horseplayers association to help them promote a three quarter point drop in exacta takeout."

--Jeff Platt, HANA President