historical perspective

[46zilzal]

Wonder why it is that in many OTHER sports, the history of the game is spoken about with reverence: i.e. baseball's records are so intertwinned as a part of the daily game as if the ghosts of games past were watching.

Seems that the racing fan of today has too short a memory without that historical yardstick to compare the better ones of today with the greats of the past, Ashamed.....if superlatives do not have a solid comparison, the heroes of today seem bigger than they should.

[ryesteve]

Seems that the racing fan of today has too short a memory
I can't say I agree. Just look at the people here who use horses as their avatars. Plenty more greats from yesteryear than greats of today. I think what gets confusing is that most people around the sport really aren't "racing fans", which is why it feels like that sense of reverance for the past is missing. These are people who are connected to the tickets in their hands, not to the horses they represent. When was the last time you ever saw someone standing under a TV screen rooting for a horse by name instead of number?

[csperberg]

my wife got me the complete encyclopedia of horse racing for x-mas. I think it is a wonderful coffee table book. I dont know if anyone else has this particular book or not.

Here are the chapter titles.
1-The Early History of Horse Racing (British, American, Canadian and Australian)
2-Horse Racing Aroung the World (A little bit about every countries racing)
3-The Major Races (The history of the biggest races worldwide, with the records of the winners for every year ran)
4-The Legendary Horses (need we say more, not just American horses)
5-A-Z of Famous Horses (and for the rest of the greats)
6-The Legendary Jockeys (need we say more)
7-A-Z of Racing Greats (the whos who of racing past and present, trainers, jockeys, breeders, owners etc)
8-Gambling (US and British)
9-Controversies and Scandals (name speaks for it's self)
10-Triva and Records (fun and interesting facts, not a complete record book more odds and ends records)
11-Chronology-Time line of racing

The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing by Bill Mooney & George Ennor, Carlton Books $40.00 240 pages color pictures hard cover. Not a complete historical reference guide but a nice book to read IMHO.

just thought I would mention it since it is on the historical side of things. I think it is an great little book to have. One you can keep out on your table and not up on a shelf.

[46zilzal]

When was the last time you ever saw someone standing under a TV screen rooting for a horse by name instead of number?

The majority of psuedo-gamblers one has to tolerate is growing.

Last time was Smarty Jones.

[Overlay]

I think what gets confusing is that most people around the sport really aren't "racing fans", which is why it feels like that sense of reverance for the past is missing. These are people who are connected to the tickets in their hands, not to the horses they represent. When was the last time you ever saw someone standing under a TV screen rooting for a horse by name instead of number?

LOL. My son's image of horseplayers (derived from a few trips to the Quad City Betting Parlor (formerly Quad City Downs) in East Moline, Illinois, and that he still kids me about) is a bunch of guys (minimum age 60, and no females in sight) standing in clusters around monitors with cigarettes continually dangling from their mouths, watching the horses coming down the stretch and shouting, "Come on with that 2! Come on with that 2!" With that picture in mind, he always refers to my time on the PaceAdvantage board as talking with my "bypass buddies" (as in the coronary variety). I'll make a handicapper out of him yet, though. (I'm counting on him to keep my website going someday!)

[boomman]

ryesteve wrote (gotta like that name rye, you just spelled it wrong steve) LOL ::D I can't say I agree. Just look at the people here who use horses as their avatars. Plenty more greats from yesteryear than greats of today. I think what gets confusing is that most people around the sport really aren't "racing fans", which is why it feels like that sense of reverance for the past is missing. These are people who are connected to the tickets in their hands, not to the horses they represent. When was the last time you ever saw someone standing under a TV screen rooting for a horse by name instead of number?
http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/images/buttons/green/report.gif (http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/report.php?p=342837)

Steve makes a great point...even as a player and ambassador of the sport when I'm not announcing I catch myself calling for a number instead of a name...But as far as horse racing forgetting about its history, I don't think that is the case at all. Many beginners have heard of Secretariat, in fact I used the trivia question of how many lengths he won the Belmont by to give away a ball cap in one of my seminars this summer and SEVERAL beginners knew the answer (31 lengths of course in case you're wondering) Also, many beginners know the great story of Seabiscuit via the book and the movie, and Cigar's 16 race winning streak to tie Citation is well known too. I agree that we can get better at preserving our history, but IMHO we have a solid foundation of which to build on:ThmbUp: -Boom