Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

YourHost — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:52:41 GMT

To Bloggers FSF,Meownuela,Laura,Leon,Slew,Pasturelands, Kelso Fan and others, your responses show an understanding of current problems that is not evident in Gary Fenton's article. It was also confusing: is he talking about BC Racing Breaks during football games? Is he serious? Hey, I also want the 'fluff'. If it's taking too long between BC races I'll make a Belmont or CD play. Also, when did football start stopping the clock on an out of bounds play?

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

don miller / FL — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:55:54 GMT

I agree with most of the “TV is King” solutions, but one thing that wasn’t addressed and should be in the mix is HD. Many, many people already have or soon will get flat screens/HD. Watching a race on TVG in old fashioned SD is bla, on ESPN HD your eyeballs pop.

If TV is King, High Definition is the horse he rides in on.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Same Down Under — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:23:54 GMT

Gary's ideas have great merit, as does the fact that the great horses – not wizz-bang sideshows – bring fans to the game long term.

In Australia fans used to go nuts for one day cricket (about 6 hours all-up) as an alternative to 5-days of Test cricket. Now even 6 hours is too long and there's a new version called 20/20 which is 40% shorter still.

And that's the real point! People lead incredibly busy lives, most often where both parents work. More than a few hours of chill time is a luxury. Who goes to see a 6 hour movie or 6 hours of Broadway?

Cut the BC day back to 3 hours max, package it tightly and use TV to emotionally connect to an audience that is involved from go to whoa instead of having them change the channel to a hoolahoop contest after 20 minutes.

In Australia we have great crowds of young social wannabees at the big meets; most are only there for the drinks and the pretty young things and are not a long term solution.

Racing 101: it's about the horse and everybody loves a contest; foreplays fine – but it gets boring if it's drawn out too long. Set the scene, build it up and move to the climax. Next... and so on.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Downhomesunset — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:52:27 GMT

Some people might be sick of me by now-I am alays tooting harness racing's horn. But they have 10-15 race cards completed and it is still the 6th at the thoroughbred simulcast that started at the same time. Why? Tracks have 12-15 minutes between races. The only acceptions are championship cards, where they will add 5 minutes, or really bad weather where I have seen races go in as little as 8 minutes apart. I have always been perplexed with the difference between the two and it hasn't changed since I started going to the races in 1985.Those were the days when the tracks weren't ashamed to print attendance and handle in the papers....

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

owner, breeder, trainer, fan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:09:21 GMT

For the people who disagree, open your mind. Doing the same thing and expecting different results has never worked in history. I have worked in the industry, and 15 minutes between races is possible. Meadowlands you all meet at the barn at the stretch and wait for the previous race to run. Monmouth Park has a different path to the paddock, so it's possible there also. What do we have to loose? Somebody wake up, and try something new. Maybe sponsorship may be the new revenue to supplement purses. Not racinos.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

da3hoss — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:31:29 GMT

Smarie has a good point: not liking football to tune in and watch horse racing squeezed in.

I love football...Patriots football...if you're not playing my Patriots to heck with ya!

You can run all kinds of races in between the BC races...TVG and HRTV do it all the time, not need to be at two tracks to run a race every 15 minutes...you got tracks all over the continent running races you could show, livestream with TVG or HRTV on the network running the BC...

You can do stories of the horses that are running the next race, and show important races that led up to these horses being in this race...personality spotlights...my friends and family eat that stuff up on KD Day...ALL the horses, not just the TV personalities favorites...Mine That Bird a great example...the TV guys went on and on about POTN, FF, etc and when MTB won no one had a clue....

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Terry — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:34:37 GMT

Re holding the BC at different tracks. The Standardbred people hold their Breeders' Crown at two alternating tracks. The 2009 races for 3 year olds and up were August 21 at the Meadowlands, and the races for 2 and 3 years olds were run at Woodbine on October 24. Myself, I like that split because the races are far enough apart in time that trainers don't have that problem of deciding which traqck to go to.

But in 2010 & 2011, they are changing to 12 races on one day at one track, then 12 races in one day at the other track the following year. And that will cause problems for viewers because in 2011 the Breeders' Cup and Breeders' Crown will be on the same day. That will mess up viewers even more!

I like the way they did it before. Half the BC races at one track one month, the other half at another track a different month. For the BC, you could have one track with dirt and turf, the other track with synthetic & turf, or some other combination to keep more people happy.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Terry — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:15:17 GMT

It would help if the BC broadcast was done better. The emphasis is all on betting and people. You don't even see all the horses for each race! TV viewers have no program and we aren't told anything about each entry, not even the sire and dam. Make the show about the HORSES and people will watch. The ones who just want to bet are all at the tracks & betting parlours, not watching on TV at home.

ESPN used to do a great job covering horse racing. Now it's dreadful. (Its coverage of Woodbine's International was appalling.) I think the BC television coverage should use the local experts instead of ESPN guys who know more and care more about football. If it's at Woodbine, let the Woodbine team host. If it's at Santa Anita, let their people host. The info would be a lot more detailed and interesting, I'm sure! And forget the stupid Hollywood celebrity interviews. Who cares what they think? (If they do....!)

I want to know the breeding of the horses. I want to see them in the walking ring before the race. I like to hear interviews with their trainers and owners and breeders, as long as the focus is on the horse they are running.

Make the show about the horses the way it used to be, and people will watch.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

DMN98 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:55:41 GMT

with all due respect to mr fenton and all of the posted comments, all of you still dont get it.

attracting new fans does nothing for the game. let me repeat that. NOTHING!!!!!! racing needs to attract new gamblers.

if you dont gamble , you are, in a sense, worthless to the game. 95% of revenue for tracks comes from people gambling. fans that go to the track and dont gamble, bring nothing to the equation. thats why racing has died. the industry has forgotten how to take care of the gambler, so the gambler has forgotten about racing

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

FSF — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:32:28 GMT

I find it laughable that this gentleman thinks "TV is King." As a 30 year old, I am just counting the minutes until "traditional" TV is finally broken down to a more pay-per-view type model where I can select the 5 channels I watch (ESPN, Food Network, PBS, Bravo, and Discovery Channel), add on a couple of channels that aren't currently offered here (specifically, HRTV and TVG) and scrap all the useless old dinosaur network channels. And I will continue to DVR the shows I want to see- including sports coverage- so that I can fast forward through your precious revenue generating commercials that I don't want to watch. If I could accomplish all of these goals by downloading the shows I like when I wanted to, via an Internet-ready TV (which I will purchase next time I need one), all the better, so that I can get away from the cable/TV business all together. This is the future of the TV experience. If someone from an industry that is about to go down in flames is offering suggestions to another industry in decline, I say run away, as fast at those four Thoroughbred legs can take you.

Someone else on here mentioned the 'golden days' of Wide World of Sports, with Jim McKay. Couldn't agree more. If the on air personalities had the same presence of Mr. McKay, instead of Kenny Maine shouting at me and Hank Goldberg looking like he was about to topple over in his seat, the focus could remain on the horses and the stories of "their people" not the raving of these "hosts." The best thing about watching the BC on DVR this year was fast forwarding through the "piggy bank" segments.

Finally, I am still disturbed by the fact that all racing coverage, but particularly BREEDER'S CUP coverage, no longer includes the runners' pedigrees. We lament that our stars go off the the breeding shed so early (a real problem discussed extensively on other blogs here), but as a kid, I always got a real kick out of seeing one of my favorite former racehorses show up as a sire or dam to a horse running that day- that horse became my instant choice for the race. So yes, we lose Zenyatta or Zensational to the shed this year, but how fun if in three years, we're rooting for own of their colts or fillies in a Breeder's Cup race. As it is now, unless one of the commentators thinks to mention pedigrees during the post parade, a casual fan would never make this connection. Putting it right up on the screen with the owner/breeder/record/earnings box in the Post Parade would help fans stay connected, albeit in a tangential way, to their former favorites.

Finally, I'm not the only one to mention this, but I think the biggest problem is just the general lack of coverage. As a kid almost every other Saturday racing was on in the afternoon. And others have pointed out that not even the Sunshine Millions races, which are used as the gold standard example in the original argument, still get air time. We have got to figure out a way to encourage networks other than TVG/HRTV to give us racing coverage. I've written to ESPN numerous times this year (always identifying myself as a 30-year old, well educated woman, as my marketing friends tell me that I'm in the demographic every TV exec wants), but I never hear any sort of reply, and I certainly haven't seen any increase in coverage. I would love to see these blogs used to organize mass write-in days leading up to big race that aren't being televised. How many people could we mobilize here?

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

LavasLegend — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:10:49 GMT

"If it aint broke, don't fix it".

Too many races, over two days, Therein lies the problem. Period.

Mr. Fenton, with all due respect to your ideas, I have to agree with those posters here who have vehemently opposed them.

The BC never did need fixing. NOW it does, but as someone else mentioned, we have now done the "trial and error". Time to admit it was wrong.

To take away the post parades, the interviews, the fantastic stories that come along each year, to give it to us in rapid-fire succession, is stripping a very large piece of the glory that was and still is horse racing. Ironically enough, it is taking away the HORSES from the viewers.

Yes, horse racing often preaches only to the converted anymore. But take it away from us further...and I sense a mutiny ;-)

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

KYFan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:47:53 GMT

Karen the down side to it is that it is UNBELIEVABLY expensive to televise two tracks extensively at the same time. The coverage would suffer as they pick one or the other. One or two races? Not as big of crews or as much logisitcs. Since turf racing is not that big of a deal in the US to a lot of casual fans? They'll broadcast the dirt tracks.

The downside may not be apparent to those outside the game but it's a nightmare to those IN the game. Same as having it two years in a row on the same surface same locale.

The locals don't bring any money to the restaurants, hotels, car rental and all the tourist attractions. That is how you get some support from the locale it's being held at.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

KYFan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:39:55 GMT

Right DonW, I'm going to put a jock on a multi-million dollar race horse running for a million dollars or more who is a 'local' jock? All of those with that kind of experience will disappear real fast snatched up by the trainers who follow my thought process.

My owners don't want to have to choose which 'kid' to go watch at their 'soccer game' to translate to human terms.

Sysonby, the people watching FB, Baseball And NBA KNOW the players, have the 'fat head' stick ups, get the blurbs on these guys 100 times a day on ESPN. Heck we know which ones are having affairs, shot someone, got drunk, what cars they drive, what where and when they met their spouse or in this day and age 'baby mamas' we even know if they prefer briefs of boxers so don't tell me that people don't want to know.

They don't dumb down FB? Yes they only show the yellow line they need to get to for the next first down, they draw pictures they explain things ad nauseum about how it all works.

The fact that we're dealing with animals and the fact that people today are obsessed with celebrities, we need to play up our celebrities that we have in racing. We have some folks that have accomplished amazing things within and outside of the game.

Although I agree that ESPN in particular shows the same feature way too many times, we still may hook some people who, as some did in the old days, idolized some of these guys.

You're speaking as a gambler, sounds to me like, the kind of guy who should stick to the horse racing networks that focus on that primarily. Why? Because some people don't get the gambling angle. We need to present it as human interest, beautiful animals, interesting and accomplished people but not in the way that ESPN does it. Right about that part.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Mary — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:29:20 GMT

I agree with Kelso Fan. Back in the 50's and 60's we had "The Race of the Week" show in Cleveland, and I am sure, other cities. It ran at 5:00pm on CBS or ABC and featured seasonal stakes races from the east coast. Kelso, of course, was the star of many, as were Cicada, Jaipur, Ridan and a host of other wonderful horses. That show got me involved in racing, as it did many others. Win Elliot, Arnie Winick and Tommy Trotter gave you the inside scoop, plus owner and trainer interviews. Such insights !

Wish we could bring something like that back to stations more of us can watch. Here in Lancaster, Ohio, many of the sports stations are blocked due to local government determining they are gambling-oriented. Racing is racing, not to be included as a lesser-light adjunct to football and other sports plagued by a myriad of diva-players obsessed with "larger than the game" egos, and owners sinking in any number of mismanagement quagmires.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Karen in Indiana — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:22:54 GMT

jamesb, I beg to differ. I love the stories and I care enough about the horses to go to Kentucky every year to see my favorites and to support horse rescue in my state. I don't watch races on TVG or HRTV that only show the numbers, horses have names. Are you listening Churchill Downs, Inc.?

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Karen in Indiana — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:14:53 GMT

I love it. Having the races going at two tracks on the same day has so many benefits - turf races at one track, dirt (or synthetic) at another; long enough between races to get something to eat or go to the bathroom, but not long enough to get bored; more jockeys would get an opportunity to ride; more local fans at the track. Since all the races could be run on one day as opposed to two, the televised time on Saturday could stay the same, but the viewers would get twice as much action. AND no missing the female races because they are on a work day. I don't see any down side to this.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

mauk one — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:12:53 GMT

Gary's comments are great...Great for racing and great for the sport...We need to do things different or we're not going to be around much longer...I've been talking the same talk as Gary for the last ten or fifteen years but not many want to change....It's all about change, change, change... Keep up the good work Gary...

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Louie Dula — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:04:00 GMT

they need to STOP having the Breeders Cup races at Santa Anita all the time. no matter what anybody says... some trainers will never ship their horses there because of the surface. it's time for it to come South and the PERFECT place for it to be held is beautiful HIALEAH PARK. I can't think of a greater track to have it at.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Sysonby — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:48:43 GMT

All these comments and only John Galt1 mentioned the fact that declining viewership has walked hand in hand with the expansion of simulcast and online and satellite viewership of racing. When the BC came into being, I could either go to the BC or watch on TV. The OTB parlor would take my bets but I couldn't watch it. With the rise of interstate simulcast new opportunities for seeing the races have come into being. I'd rather go to a simulcast with my "racing friends" for the day than watch at home. Plus, while we are there, we can see/bet on races at other tracks as well.

I am a fan and a horseplayer. I too work in TV. The fan in me likes to watch the races and I would do so even if I was not betting. The horseplayer in me however gets fed up with the way network TV shows racing. Some nice features are great but the networks generally decide on a "theme" and stick with it to the end. Barbaro's Derby was the "Olympic medalist who rescued children from a burning plane crash vs. the trainer in the wheelchair after a horrible motorcycle accident." Had neither of them won, the networks would have been lost, as they were this year when they had no idea who Chip Woolley or Mine That Bird were.

Tell the stories but cut a wider path. By 6pm I don't want to have seen the same segment on Trainer A's battle with the bottle or Trainer B's 102 year old Dad 5 times each.

Kids put together wonderful little vignettes/videos about their favorites. Search YouTube. If they can do a nice 3 minute piece on Trainer X or Jockey Y, why is it so hard for ESPN?

It is a fine line trying to bring new fans into the game while satisfying the old hands. The dumbing down of the sport and ignoring odds makes me crazy. Most of the odds shown on the national telecasts are about 4-5 minutes old. I have never seen an exacta grid or a Pick 3 "will-pay." The fact is that baseball and football don't talk to the viewers as if they are idiots. The count is up to the second in baseball, the down and yardage are always on display in football. If I don't know what a strike or a ball is and don't understand the yardage, I'll get it on my own after watching for a few minutes. Just tell me what's happening. Explain the really tricky stuff otherwise just let me watch.

Honestly, if you are only watching because the trainer of the favorite is in a wheelchair or the owner of a runner is 98 years old, you really are not that interested anyway.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

DonW — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:04:06 GMT

The comments on Gary Fenton's suggestions are from people who love horse racing, so it is not surprising that they are not in favor of changing the current format of the BC telecast. I love it too, but let's face it - the BC telecast is an utter failure at showcasing our sport to millions of non-racing fans. They simply don't watch it. We need them to support our sport or it will continue to decline. I like the idea of having many tracks, each hosting a BC race on the big day, and then having live coverage for only 3 races: The filly and mare dirt, the classic, and the turf. And run them in an hour and a half program, preferably at night. A racing show at night would not need to compete with most other sports in the fall and would also be watched by racing fans who had gone to their local track that day to see "their" BC race. The other races could be shown by videotape during the nighht program, to showcase these tracks and horses. Sure, having multiple tracks for BC races creates a problem for jockeys, trainers, etc. But there are plenty of local jockeys around who would love to have a chance for a mount in a million dollar BC race.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Aikenite — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:53:16 GMT

Horse racing exists because of gambling. Americans like to gamble. Rarely does a televised racing event emphasize the most potentially appealing aspect of the game to novice viewers. Particularly on Breeder's Cup day, there are always incredibly juicy payoffs on Tri's/Pik 3's, even exacta combinations. We're lucky if we even get a mention of the payoffs after the fact, much less up front discussions from serious handicappers who could clue the public in on how they think about hitting the "big one." The gambling angle is horribly under emphasized during racing broadcasts.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

kelso fan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:23:11 GMT

I couldn't disagree more - the problem is that we have less exposure to horse racing these days and thus less opportunities for people to learn about horse racing and the personalities (including equine) who populate it. I would like to see more in-depth pieces about those personalities. Sure, we can watch TVG and HRTV but they run many horse races without the time for commentary to allow people to get to know much about the sport and if you think the casual fan or current non-fan is going to spend time watching those channels you are sadly mistaken. My non-horse friends lose interest very quickly. When they see more in-depth info they get engaged. Plus, many of us do not have satellite TV. I remember getting cable just so I would have ESPN to watch the races that had moved over from network TV - now we don't even get to watch races like the Santa Anita Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup much less all the racing leading up to our big races. As for racing at the track, I don't know of any tracks that aren't simulcasting so the people that think 30 minutes is too long between races really arene't watching any of the other races. For big race days, I may visit an OTB to do my betting but you can bet I am in front of my TV to watch the fluff for the races themselves. And for races I am able to attend, I then come home and watch what I have recorded.

The person new to horse racing is not going to go on-line like I do to read horse racing news or watch races, nor are they going to pay attention to races that are shown without much explanation.

Please try arguing for more exposure on national free TV, more news on local print media and if you want to get rid of fluff how about eliminating the red carpet stuff on Derby Day.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Pasturelands — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:28:34 GMT

To sandwich horse racing as Football intermission numbers is laughable, and irritating, especially for FB fans. Confusing too, for horse fans.

Horse Racing SHOULD make-or-break it to ESPN. Even just get a 1 hour or even 30-minute show on that sports channel will do wonders for the sport, believe me. A lot of my friends have ESPN, but NONE have TVG (what's that?). Snow surfing and Extreme sports are new, BUT they are on ESPN as a regular. How come a 200-year old sport like horse racing is NOT there??

For horse racing to have NEW fans, the audience should know WE ARE ALIVE. Get HR into Mainstream. NTRA are you listening? *wink* Just my suggestion...

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

Robin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:34:50 GMT

I can't understand why over the last 8-10 yrs, horseracing has taken a back seat. Sure we get the TC races, and a few of the Fall classics on ESPN. But otherwise, unless you subscribe to TVG, or HRTV, you're limitted on the viewing of any race. Unless, of course the race has a fatal breakdown or something else to marr the entertainment factor. Even our local paper no longer carries any racing charts, or any info. I appreciate the BC coverage. Would also like more behind the scenes stuff, but realize I'm grabbing at straws.

re: Hail the King - By Gary Fenton

KYFan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:13:20 GMT

Because, change for the sake of change is never good.

Then what do you do when you've lost the core group of horsemen and also fans and just have the guys with the huge stables running at the big purses? We still have the occasional little guy running.

Once you venture down this road you can never go back.

The industry has changed a great deal in the last 30 years. The advent of the Breeders Cup was within that time frame, all types of exotic wagering, the dog and pony shows in giveaways etc.

You guys who want to change it and give it a shot, see what happens?

That is what has been a problem to a lot of tracks.

The change to two days? Almost to a person, the fans and horsemen alike have complained about that. The number of races? Like one trainer said who cares about some of those races? We've changed networks and that sure has turned to crap.

The only real negative? That is a real laugh. The guys who own these horses dang sure aren't going to pay the exhorbitant fees if they can't even watch their horse run so what they'll do is limit their runners to one specific track. The trainers? Those who build their programs around TC horses will run at the track that is most in line with that. Same with the turf runners, the synthetic specialists.

What happens then? The field size starts to suffer and you get the same undersubscribed races that happened in a few this year.

Then you get the negative folks who say things about a horse being a synthetic specialist etc, we've seen what that's done with all this fighting and bickering going on.

You know it's funny but those who want to make these wholesale changes are never directly affected by it and when it blows up, they move on and find some other cause or favorite sport.