(J R Webb)

On one hand the Del Mar cougar contest is harmlessly chuckle worthy and certainly in tune with at least some of their market. On the other hand, it’s just another example of how women in racing are frequently either reduced to their looks or perceived as not as skillful as their male counterparts… let’s review.

During the intro to Eddie Read on ESPN the voice over extolled the virtues of Del Mar while panning of shot of pretty young ladies dressed in summer hats…

“This seaside spa meet has it’s own beauty. Many notice it on two legs under hats”

Then there was the recent reminder that if a woman does happen to be talented, she’s “not just another pretty face“. And let’s not forget that no matter how talented she might be, she’s still perceived to be not as skillful as her male colleagues.

Meanwhile, while Rachel Alexandra is busy kicking every ass regardless of the genitalia that sits nearby, she’s (occasionally) getting called things like “Miss America“. Feh.

I’d like to take a moment to do two things:

1. Echo Barry Irwin’s recent sentiment shared over at Paulick’s and thank Jess Jackson, for purchasing Rachel Alexandra away from owners who would have never given her the opportunities she’s had to thrill us, precisely because she is a female.

2. Point out to all those pre-Preakness hand-wringers who seem to erroneously view sex as a safety issue that the great Rachel Alexandra is still very much with us… and the game is better off for it.

(Saratoga was great! Post coming soon.)

Posted by dana on Aug 04 2009    
Filed Under: Rachel Alexandra, Del Mar, 2009, Daily Racing Form, Grrrr, Racing

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There I was minding my business on Saturday afternoon with the NYC OTB channel on, volume down, laptop in hand, in the middle of some excellent puttering… reading tweets about entrants from various tracks, looking at Raceday360 Wire and possibly even sending email.

As I glanced up to see how many minutes to post at Belmont (for a 3 horse race) I noticed the DRF Formulator ad that reminds us that they were kind enough to make Formulator easy enough for us women folk to use. As I blankly stared at the TV I noticed something different, that the text on the noted frame had change, and that the word “expert” seemed to be included.

After thinking that maybe I had imagined it, I used the magic of digital television to go back and verify that indeed they had changed that frame! No longer did it read “for every skill level“, it now read “for beginner and expert handicappers!”, although the voice over had not changed. No doubt it was much easier to change the text than the audio.

Well how about that? One can only assume that some kind soul forwarded along this link to point out their inadvertent inference. Hats off to the fine fellows at DRF for making that change!

Posted by dana on May 31 2009    
Filed Under: :), Industry, 2009, Daily Racing Form, TV, Ads, Marketing, Racing

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While others have already done a great job discussing yesterday’s coverage of the Lane’s End, I noticed something interesting during the show. And by interesting I mean annoying.

At some point in the show there was an ad for DRF’s Formulator. The ad was funny and stylistically riffed on advertising of yore. An exaggerated vaudeville barker voice-over narrated all of the great qualities of Formulator while retro images intended to be charming, light hearted and funny illustrated the points.

I particularly got a chuckle out of the pig racing shot. Sadly though, there was one visual sentiment that not only hearkened back to the days of yore, but looks as though it’s still firmly entrenched in the days of now. To drive home that Formulator was easy to use “at every skill level”, they flashed an image of two women. Now there’s a selling point, even a woman can use it!

Did they think it was funny or not even think about it? Was it the same sentiment Kenny Mayne espoused during the bazillion hour BC coverage last year, “men wager, women vote” or was it just a light hearted yet unconsciously telling choice? We’ll never know.

Much has been pointed out recently about racing’s reliance on “antiquated stereotypes and frivolity to appeal to women“. Ditto the speculation that airing the Oaks on Bravo could marginalize the Oaks as a “chick race”. How nice to have this bothersome trifecta rounded out by subtly being reminded that we’re also not perceived as being as skillful as our male colleagues… thanks guys!

Don’t get me wrong, I think Formulator is a fine product, after all they did make it easy enough for me to use!

Posted by dana on Mar 22 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, 2009, Daily Racing Form, TV, Ads, Marketing, Grrrr

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After Market at the Lane’s End Stallion Open House (sj block)

Apparently After Market had a quiet little retirement after being scratched from the BC [Thoroughbred Times].

I would have thought that I was the only one who missed it but I was reading a handicapping article entitled Big Names to Bet Against [DRF+], and guess who one of the big names was:

As events proceeded, After Market had to be scratched at Monmouth Park because of the soft turf he cannot navigate. That meant After Market will return in the Nov. 23-25 Hollywood Park Turf Festival, where he will likely be dominated again by Crossing the Line, who will no longer be a double-digit overlay, but an overlay nonetheless.

The retirement article was dated Oct 29th and the article quoted above is date Nov 12th.

That’s a quiet retirement if the DRF doesn’t know about it! Dan Illman also published an updated Disabled List today with no inclusion of After Market in the Retired Column.

I’d love to think that maybe he’s really not retired, although being paraded around at the Lane’s End Stallion Open House 11/03/2007 would indicate otherwise.

Posted by dana on Nov 14 2007    
Filed Under: Daily Racing Form, Dan Ilman, 2007, Retirement, Breeding, Racing

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In his blog at the Daily Racing Form, Dan Illman mentioned the following:

“One of the perks of working for DRF, along with the complimentary papers and free soda, is getting the opportunity to pore over the vast database. I’m no computer whiz so it takes me longer than it probably should to narrow down parameters, etc. I believe that the data comes from a combination of The Jockey Club, Equibase, and the Daily Racing Form. It’s pretty cool.”

This prompted me to ask if there any plans to allow access to those very coveted databases to folks (like myself, racing crazy + data obsessed) could run our own queries.

He posted the following response:

“…Do you know if there is any plans at DRF to allow access to these databases to your subscribers? Having the ability to run these type of queries against multiple databases would be fantastic!”
- superterrific

“It wouldn’t surprise me if we start offering products like this in the future. Right now, we have daily products that are helpful such as “Sibling Summary,” “Key Race Report,” and “ROI Report.” Don’t be surprised if we broaden the spectrum a bit down the road, and allow more access to the computerized “brain”.”

Posted by dana on Jun 04 2007    
Filed Under: Daily Racing Form, 2007, Handicapping

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