Interesting article about the US press and horseracing

[WinterTriangle]

From last year, however, I think he has a point:

http://www.topstoriespittsburgh.com/news/eric-okeefe-american-thoroughbred-racing-needs-a-lifeline-and-the-answer-can-be-found-in-australia/

"American thoroughbred racing needs a lifeline and the answer can be found in australia"




I wonder how many people are calling in sick to work for the Melbourne Cup there, as compared to how many call in sick to work for our KY Derby?

American Thoroughbred Racing Needs a Lifeline, and the Answer Can Be Found in Australia

[the little guy]

I wonder how many people are calling in sick to work for the Melbourne Cup there, as compared to how many call in sick to work for our KY Derby?




Let's see.....being that Melbourne Cup Day is a National Holiday I am going to guess very few. Then again, being that the KY Derby is on a Saturday.......

[Dahoss9698]

Call me skeptical, but I don't think reading about Zenyatta's dance moves on the front page of the New York Times is going to save racing.

[WinterTriangle]

.....being that Melbourne Cup Day is a National Holiday

You just helped make the author's point.:)

[the little guy]

You just helped make the author's point.:)


I didn't " help " anything other than pointing out the foolishness of your comment.

Racing is popular in Australia. This is not big news. However, it is part of a MUCH bigger conversation.

[classhandicapper]

In the United States, many people only get excited by major sporting events.

There are millions of sports fans that don't watch baseball, basketball, hockey, and even football until the playoff races and ultimately the playoffs start. Casual tennis fans don't care much about the sport until the quarters or semis of a major tournament etc...

There are so many forms of entertainment in the US it's really difficult to keep the attention of fans for very long.

All you have to do is look at the typical racing card and you'll see an endless stream of state bred maidens, NW2 lifetime, turf races where 1/3rd of the field never ran on turf, 1/3rd are first time starters, and 1/3 are failures to this point, a bunch of 4-6 horse fields etc.. and it's easy to understand why no one other than hardcore gamblers care.

The sport has to be consolidated and scheduled in a way that all the best horses come together more often and create more great races the way it was is the 70s. That would at least be a step in the right direction.

[Robert Fischer]

Horseracing is considered terribly boring when packed as a spectator sport. The mediocre quality of the broadcast talent, the human-interest stories replacing gambling, the lack of innovative(or just plain ANY) uses of the fact that the audience can place a bet! all sabotage horseracing.

The only HR event that is even viable as a spectator sport is the Kentucky Derby. - and that is almost entirely from somewhat effective marketing and having established a "brand"

[Robert Fischer]

The sport has to be consolidated and scheduled in a way that all the best horses come together more often and create more great races the way it was is the 70s. That would at least be a step in the right direction.

thats right.

only a few circuits should be used for the prime time tv broadcast schedule. And every time the feature night of the week rolls around, the feature race has to be made into "a major sporting event"

[classhandicapper]

thats right.

only a few circuits should be used for the prime time tv broadcast schedule. And every time the feature night of the week rolls around, the feature race has to be made into "a major sporting event"

Back when I was a teenager, NY had that Saturday show with Frank Wright and Charlsie Cantey where they showed the feature stakes race (which was practically always a really good race). We need something like that nationally, but like you said it has to actually be a good enough race to generate interest and we don't have that often enough now.

[PaceAdvantage]

Back when I was a teenager, NY had that Saturday show with Frank Wright and Charlsie Cantey where they showed the feature stakes race (which was practically always a really good race). We need something like that nationally, but like you said it has to actually be a good enough race to generate interest and we don't have that often enough now.We had that on ESPN for a long while...it was called "Wire to Wire"....it went off the air something like 4 or 5 years ago...

[46zilzal]

We had that on ESPN for a long while...it was called "Wire to Wire"....it went off the air something like 4 or 5 years ago...
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, Budweiser Racing Digest on ESPN, World Class Racing from the BBC that we got here....lots of good shows.

The crew on the Breeder's Cup actually had something interesting to say the first 6 years or so it was on with the likes of Sharon Smith, and several European analysts who actually were understandable, that very good fellow from Florida who died, Vietch and Tom (when he wasn't doing Notre Dame games) made a great pair as one was a trainer and the other and experienced horse owner. On CBS there was Frank Wright, Charlsie and Whittaker, all talented and knowledgeable.


The new generation of announcers make the assumption that the audience has never actually gone to the races and really talk down to the audience.

I never turn the audio up and delete it altogether when I make DVD's of the races for archving.

[thaskalos]

Horseracing is considered terribly boring when packed as a spectator sport. The mediocre quality of the broadcast talent, the human-interest stories replacing gambling, the lack of innovative(or just plain ANY) uses of the fact that the audience can place a bet! all sabotage horseracing.

The only HR event that is even viable as a spectator sport is the Kentucky Derby. - and that is almost entirely from somewhat effective marketing and having established a "brand"I agree...trying to stretch a 2 minute race into an hour or a 90 minute telecast - without any commentary from respected handicappers - is ridiculous.

The Kentucky Derby is the exception...but there too, the winner of the race is a complete surprise so often, that I wonder what the general public's reaction is, as far as embracing this game as a vehicle for serious gambling.

When a race is built up in the media as much as the Derby is, and the winner almost always ends up being a horse that nobody has mentioned as a contender...do we expect the public to think that our game is worth betting hard earned money on?

[RaceBookJoe]

Back when I was a teenager, NY had that Saturday show with Frank Wright and Charlsie Cantey where they showed the feature stakes race (which was practically always a really good race). We need something like that nationally, but like you said it has to actually be a good enough race to generate interest and we don't have that often enough now.

That show came on Cable for me...Channel 9 ( WOR ) . I watched it every saturday at 6pm...they showed the 8th and 9th. This was before ESPN was a network. I miss getting horse races on tv...tvg/hrtv arent on my basic cable...just might have to do that Dish Network/RTN hookup. I was just recently in NY and it was so nice to have the CapitalOTB channel, get to listen to horse racing talk by people who like horse racing. rbj

[classhandicapper]

We had that on ESPN for a long while...it was called "Wire to Wire"....it went off the air something like 4 or 5 years ago...

You missed the part where I said it actually has to be a good race. :lol: