Primetime Derby?

[andicap]

About 15 years ago, a gadfly by the name of Walter Parker showered the Prodigy racing board with reasons why the Kentucky Derby should be run at night, during primetime, in front of the nation's largest TV audiences.

He was widely mocked and ridiculed for this seemingly blasphamous idea. .

An idea ahead of its time? Undoubtedly. But with lights now up at CD and the sport in dire need of a visible and popular spectacle, perhaps that time has come.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horse...95439334_x.htm

Of course, the flip side is that a horrific breakdown would do tremendous damage to the sport.

[kenwoodallpromos]

"Of course, the flip side is that a horrific breakdown would do tremendous damage to the sport."
Worse than Barbaro's?

[Black Ruby]

how much of the Euro wagering would be lost if the race ran at 2am London time?

[andicap]

Originally Posted by Black Ruby

how much of the Euro wagering would be lost if the race ran at 2am London time?

as opposed to 11:30 p.m. now? Probably not that much.

[andicap]

Originally Posted by kenwoodallpromos

"Of course, the flip side is that a horrific breakdown would do tremendous damage to the sport."
Worse than Barbaro's?

That's the question I was thinking about when I wrote that comment. My feeling was that you're going into primetime in order to get a bigger audience and more media attention. Anything that happens on primetime TV -- good and bad-- are magnified greatly compared to other times when the audience is mainly mainstream sports viewers. Think kids.

[PaceAdvantage]

The reality is that horrific breakdowns do happen and will continue to happen, even on the grandest of stages.

It can never be 100% prevented or avoided.

In the past, when this has happened (Go for Wand, Prairie Bayou, Ruffian, Barbaro, etc.), the common cry was "this will be horrible for racing." And yet, we've gotten through all of these past horror stories, and I'm thinking we will get past the next one when it undoubtedly rears its ugly head.

Breakdowns on the biggest stage happen often enough that the hardcore fan continues to wring his hands thinking about the next one, but are rare enough that the general public won't be turned away from the sport forever.

[andicap]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Breakdowns on the biggest stage happen often enough that the hardcore fan continues to wring his hands thinking about the next one, but are rare enough that the general public won't be turned away from the sport forever.

I'm NOT arguing that racing should avoid primetime for that reason, but to say breakdowns in high profile events are "rare" certainly is debatable.

Barbaro in 2006 and Eight Belles in 2008 mean there were two horrific incidents in the last 12 Triple Crown races. That's 17%. I would term it "uncommon," but certainly not rare. And a high enough incidence to be concerned about the risk/reward of raising the profile of your sport's marquee event.

For the record, I am in favor of the move but if it happens, the sport must take extra precautions. For example, make sure the tracks are not "souped up" for the occasion with rock-hard surfaces aimed to produce fast times.

Also, the TV coverage should be "softer" with more human interest features designed to attract the casual or non-racing fan. Funny Cide's story got a lot more interesting once we learned about its owners. Of course racing can't control the networks' coverage.

This is the age of marketing. We must make "rock stars" out of the horses AND the people involved (horses get hurt a lot more than the people).

Rags to riches stories, overcoming hopeless odds, quirky and endearing characters as well as emphasizing what great athletes these animals (and even jockeys) are: That's what the sport should present to America in primetime.

[PaceAdvantage]

If tracks are still aiming to produce asphalt-like surfaces and fast times for big event days, they sure are doing a very poor job of it...or are Thoroughbreds really that much slower these days?

Can anyone remember the last time a track record was broken in a MAJOR route race?