A high-speed thoroughfare for thoroughbreds
High speed internet can help people get medical treatment and job training, but it can also help people enjoy themselves. For example, take horse racing. As interest cranks up heading into the last round of the Triple Crown, people are finding new ways to use high speed internet to get more out of this centuries-old sport.
Everyone from racetrack operators to horse owners to horse racing fans are harnessing the power of high speed internet. Every major track in the U.S. has a website. So do many horse trainers, whose sites allow them to quickly and easily keep their clients updated on their horses' workouts:
"The biggest thing between 1987 and 2007 is the amount of information that is readily available to anybody that owns a horse, from the times of the works being instantly e-mailed out to the watching replays of the races," trainer Tom Amoss said. "The Internet has changed everything."
Indeed, there's much more potential for anyone involved in horse racing to use high speed internet to get a competitive advantage:
Maryland-based rider Mario Pino, who rode Hard Spun to a second-place finish at the Kentucky Derby, spent hours leading up to the Derby watching all of the key prep races on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's home page (www.ntra.com). Trainers can watch allowance and maiden races at other tracks to finalize where and when to race a horse. And owners can scour cyberspace looking for their next big purchase and keep up with their current horses-in-training.
Of course, horse racing enthusiasts can also use the internet to wager on races. While that might mean losing a little more money for some, everyone can surely agree that high speed internet has taught an old sport some new tricks.
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