The loss of star racehorses in training and the negative effect it has on the sport was a hot topic during a panel discussion Dec. 5 at the 33rd Symposium on Racing & Gaming in Tucson, Ariz.

A panel that included Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher and track executives Martin Panza of Hollywood Park and Georgeanne Hale of the Maryland Jockey Club fielded questions on a variety of topics from moderator Randy Moss, as well as those from a crowd of about 100 gathered for the session at the Westin-La Paloma Resort.

Panza, who is the vice president of racing at Hollywood Park, recalled that he and other racing officials jokingly kicked around the idea of a graduated age-based purse scale to try and keep horses in training longer.

“We got talking about a $250,000 cap for 2-year-old races, $500,000 for 3-year-old races, and bigger money in races for older horses,” he said of a recent whimsical dinner-time discussion with colleagues. “We knew it would never work. The economics of purses in America are kind of out of whack