Breeder's Cup

[Valuist]

Is it me or are others having a hard time getting excited about the Breeders Cup this year? Used to be one of my favorite days of the year. Right now, I couldn't care less.

[ghostyapper]

I think more than the location is all the races that they added in the last 2 years. I feel this will ruin the original 9.

[Zman179]

I haven't cared for the past few years. All BC Limited is doing is cooking the golden goose.

[DanG]

To each his own; but in my mind…what’s not to like? :confused:

Top class racing / large competitive fields / semi-national TV exposure and huge pools. :ThmbUp: Sounds like we need more of this…not less.

[racefinder2]

The importance and uniqueness of this event is getting totally lost.

What prep races are even going to matter on a track thats never even been run on??? Whats to say every other race will be now be run clockwise, etc etc etc.

Its almost as if this is a big experiment just to say 'I dare you not to bet on it'...

I'm working on my discipline.

[The Hawk]

Is it me or are others having a hard time getting excited about the Breeders Cup this year? Used to be one of my favorite days of the year. Right now, I couldn't care less.

I agree and so do many of my friends who bet horses. To all of us, it's the synthetic surface issue. There's no way I'm not going to play the card but EVERYONE I've talked to about it said their personal handle will be down.

[Zman179]

Synthetic shmynthetic. The event is becoming diluted and dumbed down.

To each his own; but in my mind…what’s not to like? :confused:

Top class racing / large competitive fields / semi-national TV exposure and huge pools. :ThmbUp: Sounds like we need more of this…not less.

Huge pools? Other than the pick six, does it really matter if the pools are $10 million or $100 million?
If you want to expand the BC, fine. But hold all the races on one day and not two. At this rate, you might as well make the Super Bowl eight quarters: four on Saturday and four on Sunday.

[joanied]

Guess there is two ways to look at this...from a handicapper view and a fan's view...I feel for you betting guys because it will be awful tricky to play.
But I don't like the two days, the fillies day and the colts day...and seperating the colts & fillies is stupid in many ways...but especially stupid because any filly can get entered & run against the colts.
But despite the surface, the fact that some of our best may not show up, the stupid two day card and it being at SA 2 years in a row...I can't help but get excited about watching races like these...I'll be watching the entire thing and plan on enjoying it too:jump:

[DanG]

If you want to expand the BC, fine. But hold all the races on one day and not two. At this rate, you might as well make the Super Bowl eight quarters: four on Saturday and four on Sunday.
Yeah Ok…

Let’s hold the World Series, Masters, Royal Ascot and the entire Saratoga meeting over one day if we want to carry your argument to its logical conclusion.

Don’t understand the argument even a little bit, but that sure doesn’t make either of us right.

[alhattab]

Yeah Ok…

Let’s hold the World Series, Masters, Royal Ascot and the entire Saratoga meeting over one day if we want to carry your argument to its logical conclusion.

Don’t understand the argument even a little bit, but that sure doesn’t make either of us right.

My own personal feeling is that the two days is great. However they should've left the "pure" championships to Saturday. I like the expanded races but would prefer to see the Marathon, Turf Sprint, Juvy turf races and main track Mile on Friday, with the traditional races on Saturday (I also think there is too much money in the Marathon and juvy grass races). I believe BC needed to justify high ticket prices for the combined two days and thus but some of the more important races on Friday but to me it is a bad idea, and that moving the Distaff to Friday won't necessarily make that day any more appealing than if it wasn't there.

[The Hawk]

I actually like the 2 days. It's just the surface I don't like.

[joanied]

I actually like the 2 days. It's just the surface I don't like.

I wouldn't mind the two days if they'd mix up the cards...having it seprated into female-male just don't seem right... as far as the two Classics...if they put them both on Sat., no doubt it would reduce the crowd for Friday's card.

I had a thought today...will they change the names of the dirt races to BC Poly Mile:D ...

Hawk...I watched the HRTV show "Road to the Breeders Cup', which is on every week leading up to it, and Gary Stevens has been working horses on the new Pro Ride track for about 2 weeks now (I think he's getting in shape for the Legends Day Race)...but he did say he loves the surface...the horses seem to like it...he said the track is playing fair inside or outside, and feels there is no bias at all.
The trainers they interviewed had nothing but good things to say about the Pro Ride surface...one said it plays like a firm turf surface. They said the cushion is great, yet the horses feet are not sinking down into it, just gliding over the top.

So....maybe this Pro Ride surface will be the answer to all this synthetic surface yelling, screaming, bitching, lamenting...maybe if it looks like everyone goes with the synthetic (thinking of Belmont Park going synthetic makes my stomach turn!!) that the Pro Ride surface across the board will be able to replace the dirt and if everyone installs the Pro Ride, then trainers won't have to worry about which synthetic track to ship to.

[cj]

So....maybe this Pro Ride surface will be the answer to all this synthetic surface yelling, screaming, bitching, lamenting...maybe if it looks like everyone goes with the synthetic...

We'll see. If people want to see 95% turf racing like they have in Europe, they will be happy. I doubt owners that paid big bucks for high early speed will be very thrilled.

[peakpros]

I actually like the 2 days. It's just the surface I don't like.

that and doesn't SA have it sewed up for two years...

what's up with that?

[Bruddah]

We'll see. If people want to see 95% turf racing like they have in Europe, they will be happy. I doubt owners that paid big bucks for high early speed will be very thrilled.

Always on target, succint and to the heart of the matter. :ThmbUp:

[The Hawk]

that and doesn't SA have it sewed up for two years...

what's up with that?

One thing that won't be up is handle, apparently.

[asH]

Anyone have a problem with the Win-and your-In concept? I personally don’t get it when trainers/owners win the dog-on race and are then undecided.. and these free passes for horses who haven’t won anything, they have to go too. I' would love to see Casino Drive, but why does he get a free pass? maybe I'm not understanding something; I like the good old point system, modified to 8-6-3, lets see some racing . And those BC fees for horses not nominated are as high as a G2 purse’s (maybe embellishing a wee bit).

[samyn on the green]

Anyone have a problem with the Win-and your-In concept? I personally don’t get it when trainers/owners win the dog-on race and are then undecided.. and these free passes for horses who haven’t won anything, they have to go too. I' would love to see Casino Drive, but why does he get a free pass? maybe I'm not understanding something; I like the good old point system, modified to 8-6-3, lets see some racing . And those BC fees for horses not nominated are as high as a G2 purse’s (maybe embellishing a wee bit). Win and you are in is like is winning two first class tickets to fly to the city of your dreams but you still have to buy the tickets, the hotel, the meals and the magnet for your neighbor who is watching your pets. The $125K entry fee for the classic is still a big fee to pay especially if you have supposedly have won your way into the field.

I used to look forward to this eight race card. Now it is a two day triathlon. They diluted the product.

[JustRalph]

They diluted the product.

Succinct and most of all, accurate :ThmbUp:

[ddog]

To each his own; but in my mind…what’s not to like? :confused:

Top class racing / large competitive fields / semi-national TV exposure and huge pools. :ThmbUp: Sounds like we need more of this…not less.


obviously.

:ThmbUp:

[joanied]

We'll see. If people want to see 95% turf racing like they have in Europe, they will be happy. I doubt owners that paid big bucks for high early speed will be very thrilled.

I absolutley agree, cj.... the point I was trying to make is that if we do go with synthetic surfaces across the board (Godforbid) then all the tracks with a synthetic surface should use the same one...Pro Ride, because so far, it seems to be the best of the polycrap....and in utilizing the same synthetic at all tracks using synthetic, at least that would even the playing field, because it seems every polycrap surface plays different...so it seems logical that every track using poly should use the same one.
Agreed??

[cj]

Agreed??

It is hard to say. They haven't run a single race on it yet, so I'll have to withhold judgement.

[TommyCh]

One problem for me is having half the event on Friday, as well as shunting some of the better horses in training today (fillies and mares) to Friday. The Friday female day had to be something dreamed up by some marketing wonk, because horseplayers only care about good runners, not gender. I can't take Friday off to watch the races, so that puts a damper on things and that damper carries in to Saturday. Why not run the program Saturday and Sunday? (I know. NFL.) If my OTB tries to charge again this year for the mediocre buffet, I'm staying home. And my wagering level will be down this year. I wouldn't mind seeing the races pared down a bit and run a real long day of racing Saturday. That's what I do on the day of the Dubai races.

[joanied]

It is hard to say. They haven't run a single race on it yet, so I'll have to withhold judgement.
No.....but...on the HRTV weekly show about the BC, Gary Stevens was on and he's been working horses over it for two weeks...he loves it. Said it plays fair inside or outside, no bias that he's encountered yet...he loves the way the horses feel over it, so that, IMO, is a very good indication that the Pro Ride is the winner of all the synthetic surfaces.
They also interviewed several trainers and they all said the same things...no bias, and the horses just glide over it, in some film of horses galloping on it you can see that their feet don't disappear down into the cushion.

One thing cj...I am a DIRT gal...but, if we have to have synthetic, then IMO, the Pro Ride should be used exclusivley at tracks that switch surfaces...
but, I suppose all that could change once they start racing on it...no doubt we'll all be watching that closley.