BC Friday: Why We Do What We Do

re: BC Friday: Why We Do What We Do

PomDeTerre — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 01:01:18 GMT

I could not agree more Slee. Was lucky enough to be there this year, and on Saturday, when Velaquez's filly went down in the BC Filly Juvie, Trevor Denman did not announce it. Because of the point on the track where it happened, very few people knew until announcements (almost prior to each race) that Johnny V. would be replaced by (blank). Because everyone was focused on the Inquiry and pending DQ in that race, the jock's injury was largely unknown. Thankfully he is recovering, but the filly did not (Secret Compass).

I saw today that TV ratings were down 43% over last year, which is a HUGE number. I don't blame lack of viewer interest. Since I got back to East Coast on Monday, I have heard no less than five complaints from die hard horse people that they could not locate the races on any channel. Since NBC only wants to show the Turf and Classic, and then they do nothing to promote locating channels for those (most in my area due to cable provider not carrying) who don't have HRTV or TVG. One man- a TB trainer- actually had to resort to watching all of the earlier races Saturday on his mobile phone!

Fans want & need information- not the replays of a breakdown, I agree. But when a top jock is taken off his mounts (including Wise Dan and all of the Pick 6 races), the betting public also has the right to know. Both Santa Anita and NBC failed miserably at communicating this, and quite obviously that's reflected by the ratings. There is no excuse that fan can't find the races on TV other than failure to communicate by the network. And Denman let the fans down at the track in a similar manner.

re: BC Friday: Why We Do What We Do

NancyA — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:42:00 GMT

Thank you for this wonderful, passionate article. Yes, I agree with the posting by slee. I attended the BC on both days, and the only way I was able to find out immediately what happened to Johnny V and Secret Compass was on twitter and bleacher report, and I actually watched the race! Us racing fans already know how much the owners, trainers, jockeys and their connections care about these athletes. Everyone else should know, as well.

re: BC Friday: Why We Do What We Do

slee — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 15:52:17 GMT

I love racing and look forward to the Breeders' Cup every year and a highlight of this is the information I find on BloodHorse.

I wish, though, we (and here "we" includes television) could find a way to show how much racing cares about its runners. Besides the pre-race scratches due to bruised hooves, quarter cracks or abcesses (Graydar, Ron the Greek and Taptowne) or bucked shins (Cleburne), and worst of all, a death (Points OfftheBench), yesterday we saw Ever Rider eased out of the marathon with what was described as fatigue, and CentralIntelligence pulled up with what turned out to be a condylar fracture of a fetlock.

People in horse racing know how agonizing these serious injuries are at any time and how frustrating the smaller ones are when they turn up the day before a big race. And we know how well these horses are cared for.

So why doesn't television deal with this? NBC did talk about Ever Again, but if they discussed CentralIntelligence, I missed it (which could have happened during dinner prep). And I didn't hear any scratches discussed as to the reason.

I wonder if somebody decided that by giving it air time it would provide fodder for anti-racing folks. But by doing it this way it looks like "oh, another injured horse, sweep it under the rug".

I'm NOT suggesting we play and replay videos of injured or dying horses.

But what would be the harm of saying, "Taptowne is scratched out of the Dirt Mile with a bruised foot, but he's going to be fine and expected to be back at the races in a month or two."

As it is, I don't even know if CentralIntelligence is alive. The injury might not be life threatening, but it could be.

How many seconds would it take at the end of the day to say "the report on Ever Rider is he's resting and will be fine, and CentralIntelligence is resting in his stall and will have surgery later this week". Or, if a horse has died, put up a picture and say, "sadly, we have to report XYZ did not survive their injury, and we'd like to take a moment to recognize their brilliance". Sad? Yes. But acknowledge the fact, don't send the message we are callous monsters who just don't give a damn.