(Sarah K. Andrew)

I’m no investigative journalist (or any kind journalist for that matter) however I am a Facebook user. And on Facebook I uncovered (just happened to notice) that a Facebook friend (i.e., someone I don’t know otherwise) who works for a horse transportation charter said their phones were ringing off the hook this morning with people wanting to ship their horses to California.

And who can blame them after how well shippers did yesterday. Cowboy Cal and Gitano Hernando shipped in to California while Court Vision, Diamondrella and Negligee all shipped in to Keeneland for the win.

While it doesn’t look like there are any local preps left at Santa Anita, perhaps Cowboy Cal’s win yesterday has emboldened connections to throw caution to wind against B-list euro shippers such as Gitano Hernando.

Speaking of which, who knows what the heck is going to come over from Europe. This little passage in the Thoroughbred Times Goodwood article hints at what’s to come.

If the Goodwood is an indicator of how the Breeders’ Cup Classic will unfold in four weeks, the American contenders could be in trouble after Gitano Hernando, Group 3-placed in England, turned aside some of the strongest Classic contenders. Last year, European-based runners Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator finished first and second, respectively, in the Classic, and this year superstar Sea The Stars and Group 1 winners Rip Van Winkle and Mastercraftsman are among the potential European contingent for the Classic.

You can always check in here to find out more about the euros.

Since I doubled my money yesterday, primarily because of the Oak Tree races (and a whole lotta luck… parade handicapping seems to be surface agnostic!), I’m looking forward to seeing who and what turns up in California. It should be interesting… that is if you’re willing to look at it the whole affair as it’s own particular set of circumstances. If not, you’re probably going to be miserable and probably not even bet on the Breeders’ Cup… it’s your choice!

And regardless of what you think about any of this, racing got some big time mainstream sports coverage yesterday…

Can I get some love from the racing tweeps. Two Big Time races were part of college football on ESPN yestrday. That’s huge…

And I thought it was played very well - seeing Lou Holz talk about horse racing “trifectas” was an unexpected gem

Huge? Indeed.

Posted by dana on Oct 11 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, Keeneland, 2009, Twitter, Internet, Court Vision, Breeders' Cup, Santa Anita, Sarah K. Andrew, Mainstream Media, Racing

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Borel strikes a pose on the gallop out at Churchill (Kincsem15)

Word is out that Calvin Borel will join David Letterman on the Late Show during Belmont week.

One can only hope that Letterman, who enjoys horseback riding, would be willing to ride with Calvin the way he rode with Madonna in 2005!

The fun starts at 3:37:

Think of the fun the two could have galloping down 53rd street. I doubt Calvin would be phased by Letterman’s race riding technique and could definitely teach him a thing or two. Personally I think there’s potential for comedic genius afoot. Fingers crossed!

Posted by dana on May 22 2009    
Filed Under: Mainstream Media, Celebrities, 2009, TV, Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown, Calvin Borel, Racing

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Next stop, Baltimore! (brykmantra)

Now that Mine That Bird is officially in the Preakness, what do you think his chances are? No chance? Depends on the weather? He’s better than we’re giving him credit for? Gulp… Triple Crown potential??

Imagine THAT outcome for a moment… and we thought Saturday was wild. In fact, if he won the Triple Crown I think we’d be sitting on the feel good story that could seriously turn racing around from a popularity stand point (ahem).

A dear friend referred to the outcome of the Derby as:

A shining moment for undistinguished individuals everywhere.

Indeed!

There are those who are nitpicking though. Blah, blah, blah shady owners who probably made the purchase with illegally obtained proceeds. Did we love Curlin any less?

Additionally, grousing about Chip Woolley, the trainer, not giving good media abounds. I’m not going to begrudge the guy a little surliness directed at the inanity of asking him some stupid, pointless questions on what had to be the most shocking moment of his life. I love that he’s not some insincere slickster with the ready made “feel good” response that the media craves. Let him have his moment, I’m sure his head was about to explode… after all, he did drive 21 hours to get there!

I’m also not ready to concede that this year’s crop of 3yo colts are sub-par. For all of those folks making fun of Friesan Fire, I look forward to taking your money sometime in the near future. In fact, that holds true for any number of previously well regarded starters who, for whatever reason, had an off day.

Dunkirk? Stumbled, twice. Hello 8-1 next out! Regal Ransom, did exactly what I expected, here’s to 10-1 in a more suitable spot. Desert Party? I still think he’s a better horse than he showed, let’s go 20-1!! And here’s hoping Quality Road, I Want Revenge, Friesan Fire, Dunkirk, Pioneerof the Nile, Musket Man, Papa Clem and Chocolate Candy have a rematch in the Travers.

With 3 weeks out I asked if you had a Derby horse yet. At the time the field wasn’t clear so I didn’t include everyone by name. Naturally 47 of you said that you liked a horse that I didn’t mention by name (I really should have listed more of them, next year!). 35 of you said Friesan Fire was your horse, 32 of you liked I Want Revenge, 23 of you (myself included) said that you hadn’t made your selection yet, 21 of you liked PotN, 14 of you liked Quality Road and 4 of you liked Papa Clem. As always, thanks!

Posted by dana on May 04 2009    
Filed Under: Poll, 2009, Mine That Bird, Mainstream Media, Pimlico, Triple Crown, Preakness, Racing

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(gueds)

Tonight I had an appointment with my chiropractor. It’s been at least 6 or 7 months since I’ve been in to see him. This time last year I was going weekly and every week we’d discuss Big Brown, IEAH, or something Triple Crown related. And he always started the conversation “I saw something about a horse racing hedge fund” or “what do you think of Big Brown?” or “what’s up with Big Brown’s trainer?”. Obviously horse racing was out there in front of general public.

At some point this afternoon I remembered this and wondered if what, if anything, he had been seeing about horse racing. Would he ask me who I liked for the Derby or what I make of Dunkirk or I Want Revenge? How about Mullins or Paragallo? I decided not to bring it up and see what happened, to let him be the canary in the coal mine of racing’s current mainstream awareness.

Mind you, we had a lot of catching to do re: the various knots in my neck and back, but I did bring up that I had been working on a horse racing related project, in addition to my day job (as an excuse for why I had let things get a little out of hand in the health maintenance department). He did respond with an enthusiastic “nice” but no follow-up mention of anything Derby or horse related…. not even the tragedy of the polo ponies.

The whole appointment was a little devoid of “small talk” so perhaps the fact that he didn’t bring up anything is not really a good indicator that racing’s current awareness level in the mainstream. My next appointment is the Monday after the Derby, let’s see if the canary is still singing then.

Posted by dana on Apr 23 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Big Brown, Iavarone, Dunkirk, I Want Revenge, Mainstream Media, 3yo, Derby Trail, Triple Crown, Kentucky Derby, Media, Racing

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(fauxrealphotos)

Dan Liebman’s post today on Bravo brings up (and over looks) some interesting points. He correctly points out that ESPN “decides for us what is sport and what is not, and what we will be able to watch”, although admittedly this is a construct of media in general.

He puts the icing on the cake by saying:

Apparently, it is more important to find out who is the world’s strongest man than who is the world’s best Thoroughbred.

However, the real missed opportunity in this discussion is main stream marketing or lack of it.

Lower interest in racing can be attributed to several things, among them more choices today for viewers and the fact many core fans are watching on HRTV or TVG, or at a simulcast or off-track betting facility. While HRTV and TVG serve racing’s core, they do little to help cultivate new racing fans. It’s doubtful other, smaller cable networks will either.

I don’t think it matters what channel racing is on as long as it’s marketed, after all, people can’t get interested in what they don’t know about. Look at the success of Jockeys on Animal Planet of all places. Remember how concerned we were with their crazy breakdown-a-palooza promotion? It didn’t matter, the show was success… and it couldn’t have been a success if they had just hoped people would find it. Sound like a familiar approach?

In regards to Bravo, Patrick at Handride argues that positioning racing as cultural phenomenon will be racing’s undoing as far as growth goes. An interesting comment thread ensues that explores the oft debated sport vs. gambling angle. Additionally, the tweet-o-sphere disagreed with him on the cultural phenomenon part. I don’t think it matters one way or another with no mainstream marketing.

Prior to Liebman’s post today, Jason Moran pointed out the World Wide Sports angle here at GbG over the weekend. He makes some great points and in fact he has shared other interesting thoughts about sports coverage here at GbG in the past. The Wide World of Sports idea is particularly interesting because, as several commenters at Bloodhorse point out, racing telecasts that go on for hours are pretty boring. The other side of that coin is what Moran has pointed out before, that NBC knew how to tell stories and fill the seemingly long space between races with interesting, well told stories.

I’m no sports maven, in fact I can emphatically say that I don’t give a shit about sports, but look at the NBA & TNT. Is TNT a sports channel? No, it’s the home of Drama. That’s actually a pretty brilliant hook for any kind of sport or game if you ask me. And guess what, they market it!

I think the bottom line is that, regardless of whether it’s locally or nationally, if we’re really concerned about growth then racing ought to start marketing itself to more than the existing fan base.

Posted by dana on Mar 17 2009    
Filed Under: Becoming a Fan, Industry, 2009, Jockeys TV Show, Twitter, Kentucky Oaks, Internet, Marketing, TV, Dan Liebman, Mainstream Media, Racing

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