Should racing commentators be at the workouts?

[Imriledup]

TVG has a show called 'the works' which i'm sure you are all familiar with. My question is should racing commentators on tv be at the workouts in the mornings?

Would you respect a 'talking head' more if he or she said that they go to the workouts every morning and incorporate what they saw in the morning into their afternoon handicapping?

I know that these people are not professional clockers, but if you know that, for example, Big Brown is working with a few other of the Dutrow monsters, shouldn't you be up at 6am and over there, binoculars in hand, watching intently?

Even if you don't know what you are looking at, you can learn, no?

These people are getting paid by TVG, HRTV, ESPN, NBC, etc to be professional analysts, shouldn't they be 'everywhere'?

Its wonderful to sleep till noon and show up to the set drunk and stammer out some chalky selection after you looked at the pp's for 5 minutes, but i think the fans of racing would appreciate these commentators going the extra mile to gather as many tidbits as possible.

Or, is it ok that the talking heads are just talking heads and don't really have anything original or fresh to offer the horseplayer during the tv telecasts?

[boomman]

I know several of the TVG Handicappers very well, and can tell you for a fact that they work very hard to handicap a race properly and I think your "sleep till noon, drunk and stammering comment" is way off base. I was amazed however, at how my track handicapping improved at Yavapai Downs a few years ago after I started clocking horses in the morning, but unfortunately, if you're not out there everyday or have a radio in your hand to help you idientify horses, it can be a tough grind.........Being a public handicapper can always be a humbling experience, and as you probably know, people tend to remember the losing horses that we give out MUCH more than the winners.;)

Boomer

[toetoe]

Riled One,

It may be offbase, but it's refreshing to see it allowed hereon. Steven Crist would refuse to post it. No dig at SC, just a thumbs-up for some latitude by Admin Man. :ThmbUp:

[Marshall Bennett]

I never pay much attention to their " picks " anyway so I could care less if they attend the workouts . Seems to me though thats asking a bit much with their schedule and handicapping of so many races .:cool:

[JustRalph]

how the hell can they sleep till noon considering they are on the west coast and most of the racing they cover runs in the A.M. on the west coast?