I never understood why they would move it off NBC if ESPN markets it less. I thought NBC did a good job with it.

Mark,

Well said!

Amen!  Some of us only get one or two channels on our TV's.  I am in the country and can not get Cable where I live, can not afford Direct TV, and can not get DSL on computer...only dial-up.  I would watch horse racing  any time it was on TV if possible...if it was on NBC all the time.  All of my info comes from reading your articles here on Bloodhorse.com and thank you for that!

The days when one could watch such key races as the Florida Derby, the Travers, the Whitney, the Woodward, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup on television are but a fading memory.  While the marketing specialists may trumpet the advances in bringing racing to the ordinary fan, I've yet to see it.  Even the Breeder's Cup - the mythical World Championship - is no longer accessible to those of us who have watched faithfully since its inception.  Well, folks, I've a news flash for you.  Not even the enthusiasm of the diehard fan can be sustained without replenishing that enthusiasm with exposure to North America's greatest races.  The Breeder's Cup organization has succeeded only in making what should be the greatest day in North American racing virtually inaccessible to all but a select few.  Its members can clap each other on the back and tell one another what a great job they've done.  The truth is they have succeeded only in destroying the fan base for Thoroughbred racing in North America.  ESPN?  Please return racing to ABC and NBC

and the glory days of racing coverage before it's too late.

Mark, I live in Ireland and unfortunately when the Breeders' Cup is in California later start times mean that people would have to wait up until 2.15 am to see a race scheduled at 6.15 Californian time so that wouldn't be better for overseas audiences. Die hard fans like myself would stay up all night to see this year's running of the Distaff (the keyboard won't write Ladies Classic) if it was run at that time but interest and betting revenue over here would be hugely reduced. Otherwise I agree with what you wrote, having lived in the USA and attended three Breeders' Cups I feel it's appeal is waning.

The idea of starting the Saturday Breeders' Cup on one network and then changing it to another is rampant idiocy.

Can you imagine ABC or ESPN broadcasting, oh, say, the USC/UCLA football game and having the 1st half on ABC and then switching the 2nd half to ESPN?

The message being broadcast here is clear and racing needs to listen to it - baseball and college football are more important to ABC and ESPN than horse racing.

Anybody seen a prime time commercial for the Breeder's Cup on ABC or ESPN yet?

grumph.

I'm in Toronto and since the change to ESPN I have had to invite myself to my friends who have extended cable to see the Cup.  In fact, last year it wasn't even on the "general" TSN channel (TSN = The Sports Network up here) but was showing on a secondary TSN High Definition channel.  Luckily, my friend has every channel known to man (and woman) but otherwise, I would have missed my first Breeders' Cup since its inception (albeit on TV).  And now, to make it worse, they move all the fillies and mares to a secondary day when most ordinary people are working.  Stupid altogether.  

to s lee,

Hey, as horse racing fans, we just have to be happy they're showing it at all, on any channel, and not just joining it in progress.  For the first many years of the B.C. (at least through 1990, because I distinctly remember frantically wondering why everyone was so sad, and what had happened in the Distaff), our local NBC affiliate would join the B.C. in progress after the football game they were carrying (I guess starting at noon?) ended.  That means we never saw a juvenile race, or my favorite horse, Gulch, win the sprint (I've only now seen more than the very end of that, thanks to it being posted on the internet), or any other sprint, often the whole first half would be lost to us here.  I agree that it is ludicrous to have to change channels in mid racing program, but it's better than nothing.

Horse Racing isn't the only sport banished from network television - Half of the MLB baseball playoffs have been featured on TBS.

Excellent points! However, instead of tweaking with the time on a Friday, why wasn't the BC, once it became a 2-day event, moved to a weekend, a Saturday and Sunday event? It's sort of a rhetorical question, as ESPN is never ever going to replace their non-stop football coverage on a Sunday, but if they want to lend ANY sort of importance (not to mention ratings!) for the BC, this makes more sense, coupled with NOT separating the genders and further "announcing" that the fillies and mares do not hold the same importance as their male counterparts.

I am going to the BC this year, and will be there both days, but it's beyond unfortunate for those who can't attend in person, Friday or EITHER day, or cannot be home for Friday's afternoon coverage.

So there's my 2 cents!

Horsemen,speak up loudly,your fans need you to keep this wonderful sport alive and kicking!

Finally a blog I can agree with on this new TBA group.

I have DTV, also HS but I HATE horse racing on ESPN. They bump it for anything, postpone the coverage, join it in progress. If you didn't want to broadcast it why the heck did you bid on it? My guess, the same reason they bid on everything, monopoly. They don't care if they show it, just don't want anyone else to take that % away from them. sounds like nothing to us but to them it's $$$$$. Kenny Mayne cool, big time horse fan. Randy Moss, okay, he's a handicapper Jerry Bailey knows his stuff(and everyone else's for that fact) but give me Gary Stevens any day, Jeanine Edwards, no Charlsie but okay. Some of these other characters sheesh. Gulchfan, that's what they count on. That the diehard racing fans will say it's better than nothing, while doing nothing to increase viewership.

Just like the Derby draw. It actually was kind of exciting to watch it when they made their decisions in 15 minutes, then they did the pill pull in the a.m. had all day to decide. Now why bother. Here's the deal. Instead of going around taking the pre-entries, do that at the draw. Name the qualifiers there, pill pull for selection position then give them 15 minutes to figure out their post. The looks on the faces of those who are waiting to see if they got in would be good tv. They could still have the talking heads doing their interviews only now they would mean something. My guess is the change in format was to allow more face and jabber time for the ESPN crew.  

Then the way they cut back the pre Derby hype and buildup.

Personally I look forward to TVG's The Works. Too bad CDI cut them off from Churchill, bet it has to do with HRTV and ESPN exclusivity.

Oh well, I'm going in person, thank goodness.

While I completely agree that ESPN's lack of promotion of horse racing, in general, and the Breeders' Cup, in particular, has been atrocious, the network has also ruined the little coverage they do have of racing. Someone seems to believe that changing the camera angles every few seconds after a race starts is good for viewers. I have never seen anything like this in coverage of any sport. Can you imagine switching cameras half a dozen times or more after the ball is snapped in a football game before the play is completed? No wonder the ratings are dismal. Bettors have no chance of following their runners and the stupid purple saddlecloths further inhibit one's ability to locate horses. Personally, I cannot watch racing on ESPN any longer and view track feeds online if I'm not at the track or OTB.

All the above comments are great.   I would like to go back to Tom Durkin also.  

Why so much complaining?  Of course the networks will choose NFL, college football, and baseball over the Breeders' Cup, nothing new there.  Those sports are proven ratings winners over horse racing.

Marketing the sport of horse racing is a whole lot more than showing races on the network.  That is not what would garner new fans.  A horse race is a horse race is a horse race to most who are not already fans.

To promote the sport you need to be connected to the players.  You need to have human interest stories.  You need to promote star athletes  ( the horses )and the trainers and ownership with interesting stories behind them ( there are plenty ).  

To most diehards of the sport, this kind of marketing would bore most and they would find it annoying.  However, to garner new fans you need techniques that are creative and go about connecting to the viewers heart.

This is a wonderful sport and personally I couldn't care less if the masses know it.  There are so many positives in this sport that get overlooked.  

Even the horse racing media does a poor job of covering the sport.  Sure there are problems and there are changes that need to be made,  but, I don't think I have read more than a couple of articles with a positive spin on this years BC.  Most are just attacking the faults without telling the other side ( the good side ) of the sport.

I can't wait for BC day and will be at Santa Anita to enjoy it all.

I suggest for those who are overly concerned about the sport not being as popular as they would like,  relax, enjoy, the coverage this year will be just fine and you will be able too see any race you choose too.

BeBe,

We LOVE our true fans. Unfortunately most of the big guys don't listen to us any better than they do the fans. Seems like we fight them, the critics, activists and so on.

Gets a little disheartening since we're still trying to hang in and make a living at it.

This is not TV for the average fan. I never saw the Filly races last year. When our TV (in Canada) decided to switch our curling championship coverage to a TV channel hardly anyone buys there was such an uproar it never happened the following year. They definitely have to get those races back to coverage all can see

The Filly and Mare races are where it is at this year. The Ladies Classic and the Juvenile Fillies and just Friday in general, are going to be must see races for fans.

In general there is plenty of room to critize not only ESPN/ABC for their coverage or their lack of the same, but also TVG and HRTV.

TVG has quite a few folks who should not be doing horse racing or any other sport, and they SHOVE betting down your throat but they have great graphics and send a better race signal. HRTV has great talent and very high production values, but have crappy graphics and their race signal is weak.

If we could get the TVG graphics and race signal with the HRTV talent on ESPN for the ENTIRE BC broadcast, then we would have something enjoyable to watch.

I, too, am attending so it won't matter a fig to me except when i get home to watch my dvd recording of the days races.

Gulchfan nailed it.  In the south Saturday college football trumps the BC, and for years WIS-TV/Columbia S.C. joined the BC "in progress," meaning the last two races.  Now, with 2 1/2 hours of ABC Saturday coverage, it's back to the same situation.  I subscribe to the Bloodhorse, and log on every day, but with the great fall classics no longer televised, and NTRA curtailing coverage (no Stephen Foster, etc.) I find my interest in racing waning.  Premature retirements, tragic breakdowns, an emphasis on "the industry" over sport and poor coverage/no national awareness-is it any wonder the great Curlin draws paltry crowds?  

"Does that quote make any sense to you?  The fillies and mares deserve to be buried on a weekday afternoon card that will be seen by very, very few people??"

Amen!!  Brilliant post! Thank you and as a fan of the fillies and mares I am saddened that I will be at work while the race is going on and miss the "Distaff" for the first time in 10 years.  

Like many racing fans, I am not happy with the changes in the Breeders' Cup or with the TV coverage. To relegate the fillies to Friday afternoon means few will see them. Suggestion: Run the new races on Friday; leave Saturday, the real Breeders' Cup day, for the "Elite Eight."

One reason for the decline in viewship may be due in part to the on-air talent. I had some non-racing fans watch a recent telecast. They liked Jeanine Edwards and Randy Moss, found Jerry Bailey very knowledgeable and informative, but felt he sometimes came across as a bit of a know-it-all. They found Joe Tessitore and Stammerin' Hank Goldberg to be very annoying. I totally agreed with them on that. Certainly the network can find someone better.  

I'll be at the Breeders' Cup and will tape the broadcasts. I hope that those tapes will be worth watching.

AGREE WITH THE BLOG. THE THING THAT BOTHERS ME THE MOST IS THE LACK OF PROMOTION. IF THE BIG MONEY NETWORK WOULD CONCENTRATE ON PROMOTION IT WOULD DO THE SPORT SO MUCH GOOD. THE IDEA IS AT LEAST GOOD THAT ESPN HAS IT BECAUSE IT IS THE WORLD LEADER IN SPORTS,BUT ABC NEEDS TO HAVE THE FINAL THREE OR FOUR RACES FOR THE REGULAR FAN TO WACTH. AGAIN NBC DID MUCH BETTER IN PROMOTION WITH THEIR COMMERCIAL OF CONTENDERS A MONTH BEFORE THE EVENT. WHERE IS THERE A COMERCIAL OF CURLIN AT ALL THIS MONTH ON ESPN?NOT ONCE AN TRUST ME I HAVE ALL THE ESPN CHANNELS. IN ORDER TO HAVE VIEWERS YOU NEED TO BUILD THE EVENT PRIOR, LIKE ALI AND FRAZIER. IT DOES NOT TAKE A MARKETING GENIUS TO FIGURE THIS OUT AND ESPN HAS FAILED BIG TIME ON THIS AND YES WE SHOULD ALL COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. TO GIVE U A SIMPLE EXAMPLE, AT WORK I USE TO COMPUTERS AND I HAVE ON MY BACKGROUND A PICTURE OF CURLIN AND ON THE OTHER A PICTURE OF BIG BROWN, I'VE HAD THIS FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS . WE ARE A CARGO AIRLINE COMPANY AND MY COMPUTERS ARE POSITION DIRECTLY FOR CUSTOMERS THAT COME IN TO SEE BOTH COMPUTERS. CUSTOMERS COME IN SINCE 9AM-9PM DROPPING CARGO LIKE CRAZY AND IT IS FUNNY BECAUSE MOST WILL ASK ABOUT THE HORSES AND WHO THEY ARE, THAT GIVES ME A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE THE EVENT...CO WORKERS ALSO KNOW NOW OF THE BREEDERS CUP HAPPENING SOON AND I WILL HOST AT MY HOUSE A BREEDERS CUP PARTY WITH AROUND 20 PEOPLE OF WHOM ONLY I AM A TRUE DIE HARD FAN AND THE REST NOVICE OF THE EVENT, ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF TWO BACKGROUND PICS OF CURLIN AND BIG BROWN.. ESPN NEEDS TO PROMOTE SOMETHING BECAUSE IT JUST SUCKS WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND BE OPEN TO NEW IDEAS LIKE A HALFTIME MONDAY NIGHT RACE PREP, NOW THAT IS AN IDEA...LETS ALL PROMOTE OUR SPORT. (ALL MY PARTY CRASHERS ARE BETWEEN 20YRS-32YRS, YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE THE SPORT)

Great piece!  ESPN has been horrible for horse racing.  We would be better on off on Versus (see the NHL) where they can give us the air time that we need.  Horse racing is NOT mainstream anymore!  So get off the mainstream network.

You're right--no races on ESPN in September was an awful move.  No cross-promotion stinks, too.  So many people have DVRs now, Friday BC racing is taken care of; that's how I will catch it.  Added bonus: you can zap the commercials!  PLEASE don't slag on (most) of the commentators on ESPN though.  Jannine is an accomplished horsewoman and adds a nice touch to the broadcasts.  Randy knows SO much and shares what he knows.  Jerry Bailey is smart, articulate and a good "color" man.  Hank can stay home with his piggy bank, though ;)

I was privleged to attend Breeders Cup 1 at Holly in 1984. Post Time was 11am, and I believe the Classic ran at 250pm or so: 4 hours on TV, 4 hours for the fan (they had a few races after).  I just saw the listing for this year, 1:15pm-6:45pm: that's a lot of time to cover and I just don't think networks have that time to devote anymore except ESPN, especially on College Football Saturdays

I think you should all stop complaining about TV coverage and Buy my 4 Box seat tickets for Friday and Saturday that the Breeders Cup charged me $4000.00 for. It does come with a" Gourmet picnic Lunch" and 4 Beer or Wine Drink Tickets per seat!

True, there has been virtually no promotion of the Breeders' Cup in the U.S., and losing Big Brown makes it logarithmically more difficult.  Too many races.  Overseas audiences better served running Breeders' Cup on Friday night?  How?  Europe would be asleep.  Australia is zeroed in on the Cox Plate.  And I don't see Asia being a factor, although the exposure I suppose could change that.  Best to go back to one day of racing, paring back the races to pretty much the old schedule - maybe keeping the marathon.

 I totally agree with JORDAN on how ESPN bumps horse racing for other sports events. Many a Saturday or Sunday I've hurried home from doing errands to turn on ESPN to watch a race and it's not on when it was supposed to be. Very agrivating to say the least. I subscribed to HRTV in September so I could at least see some of the races that should have been on ESPN or ESPN2. Seems like pulling teeth for us racing fans to get to see the Stakes races on t.v.

  Also I'm not happy at all with the fillies and mares races being held on Friday since I have to work and will not get to see a single one of them. I agree that maybe ESPN should throw in a race or two during football on Sunday or Saturday to possibly gets others interested in the sport we all so much love and care about.

Tyrone, I so agree with you, I could have tolerated the name change from Distaff to Mare & Filly Classic, but I will not type the word "Ladies" in conjunction with "Classic" unless they refer to the Classic as the "Gentlemens Classic".

Couple of items

- DO you remember how NBC promoted the BC? No, you don't because they didn't.

- DO you have any idea how much it costs to put racing on TV? No, you don't

- DO you know that on Oct.4 there were 6 LIVE races in 2 hours. Unheard of and unprecented. No time for features. Pick your poison.

- ESPN promotes the sport across it's multiple channels and platforms. Just because you dont see it - it doesnt mean it isnt happening.

- The BC was 5 hours on NBC and now it's 9 hours

- The Distaff was run at 10am last time in CA. Now, it's by itself as the only sporting event going on on Friday afternoon.

- Tell your ractracks to move all their big races to Sunday and you can be national TV all summer and Fall.

Stop complaining and be thankful because one day it'll be gone and you'll wish you supported it.

I got cable for one reason - horse racing! I've been so looking forward to the races this year I hadn't even noticed there hadn't been any ESPN or mainstream marketing. Just used to it, I guess. It's sad that the rest of the world is missing a wonderful, and very enjoyable sport. I'll be glued to the TV Friday & Saturday. Here's to good racing & safe returns for all of the horses & humans.  

I have been pushing for the Friday races to be 6:30-9:30 PM ET as suggested above myself, which could easily have been done this year because the Friday night football game on ESPN2 that week is Boise State at San Jose State, currently scheduled for a 9:00 PM ET start.  The problem is, NASCAR scheduled qualifying for Sunday's Sprint Cup race that week in Atlanta for the 7:00-9:00 PM ET slot, and NASCAR has become king aside from the NFL and college football to the point where I believe it was NASCAR in fact that forced ESPN to give up the MLB Playoffs so time slots could remain open in case they would be needed for races to be moved from ABC to ESPN.

I have also pushed for the entire BC to be at night, mainly because doing so would allow for a much greater amount of wagering for the BC to come from Asia and Australia, which are two potential gold mines for handle for the BC to where the BC could be a $100 million weekend if it happened, along with massive supplements for other major races for older horses that could make it much more worthwhile to keep stars in training longer.

As for going Friday-Saturday instead of Saturday-Sunday, there is one big reason for NOT doing that: The NFL, although if Churchill does not install lights for the 2010 Cup, that might be the year to try a Saturday-Sunday BC.

As for NBC, had the BC remained on NBC, the rating would be barely higher than on ESPN, plus ESPN has many more platforms to bring people into the BC than NBC ever had.

Sam, you are so right. I live in BC, Canada and attend races at Hastings. Our 2 newspapers here in Vancouver manage to provide about 1 page of racing information in total each week, these are 2 large newspapers but yet every other sport known to man is covered in page after page after page every day. Here we have local riders, owners, trainers and grooms as well as BC bred horses who get squat for coverage in the papers. I keep asking the editors to focus on the people and horses, let the readers know who we are and how hard we work, get them out to the races! But no and now it's the same for TV coverage. We don't get ESPN here in Canada unless you can afford satelite or digital TV, not me! ESPN needs to be fired and we need to get ABC or NBC back, they used to have GREAT coverage. Back in the 80's, Spectacular Bid, Genuine Risk, the start of Breeder's Cup, they were AWESOME!!

Here in Canada where I have watched the Breeders' Cup for years on NBC, the Cup for the last two years has been banished to the wilderness of an alternate high-def sports channel that very few people have on their tvs. As a result, I have had to scramble to find a tv at my local track or OTB in order to watch the culmination of a season of racing. Utterly ridiculous and disrepectful treatment of a great sport by TSN in Canada. This year, the network promises the races will be on regular cable, but I'll believe it when I see it.

As for ESPN's coverage, the idea that more fan support can only be cultivated by showing sentimental human interest stories is wrong-headed. The priority should be to keep the serious fans the sport is starting to lose, and they can only do this by treating the audience as a knowledgeable one that wants to see clips of prep races and hear analysis of each race. The idea of wasting time showing colts playing in sunlit meadows and hearing about the time somebody's horse almost died is catering to an audience that is just not in front of the tv to begin with.  Treat the viewer as a serious racing fan and the sport may survive as a serious sport. Treat us as anything else and the sport will lose its real fans and any hope of attracting new ones.

So glad I am not the only person without cable!  The switch to ESPN has been a nightmare for me!  Instead of sitting in my living room I am sitting at Simulcast with my little reserved table.  

I hate the two-day format.  I will be unable to watch the girls strut their stuff.  And "Ladies Classic" sounds a little like deodorant to me.  Casual viewers may not get Distaff, but all it takes is a quick aside from an announcer explaining the meaning of the word.  

Can't remember who mentioned Kenny Mayne and Bailey, but I agree completely.  Love Gary, can do without Charlsie, but enjoy the rest of the gang on NBC.  These races, no matter what you think of them, should be available to all.  Even those with "rabbit ears".  It seems to me that the people I see at the track are very much blue-collar kinds of folks.  The kind of folks that are watching NBC, not ESPN.  Market to them.  Give them something fun to look forward to on a Saturday afternoon.  Not all women are football fans, but there are very few women in the world that didn't live and breathe for horses as a little girl!  Some of the just need to be reminded.

ED Zeppelin, Wow you got a deal bro. The on the finish line box seats with lunch AND drinks sold for 1200-1250. The lunch only was 1g, must be because they like your band.

Dreamers Mom,

I plead guilty to the Kenny Mayne props. Bailey is too much of a know it all. Like I said Jeanine is okay but you have to admit that Charlsie knew her stuff and could get people to talk to her unlike some of these others (she retired).

Speaking of rabbit ears, you better get your LCD or box, but I agree, not everybody is lucky enough to be able to afford satellite or cable. Someone mentioned only having dial up. Suffered thru that myself when my High Speed was down. Terrible.

There are five channels on which ESPN can schedule races: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, and ESPN History (?, something like that). While the last two are usually not available on basic cable packages, one would think that between the other three, that broadcasting company could surely schedule plenty of racing Spring, Summer, and Fall.

I understand that baseball, basketball, and football are better for their bottom line. But what's up with poker games and hot dog eating contests? Are these events actually considered "sports"?

Put the races where your mouth is, ABC/ESPN. If you put the teaser out there that you will showcase premier races leading up to the BC, than DO IT, and not just for July and August. Perhaps it's just horrific time management...but maybe it's srictly business, nothing personal. And business means getting buyers for commercial time. For some reason, it appears that not many companies want to buy ad time during horse racing events. Hmmm...I wonder why? Obviously there is a bigger viewer crowd hankering for baseball, basketball, and football. Is horseracing is just too hoity-toity? <wink>

Maybe it's not so much about attracting new fans, it's about attracting new advertisers such as Budwieser, Ford, and Ball Park hot dogs. LOL It's kind of like what came first, the chicken (advertisers) or the egg (fans)?

One other thing to ponder...does the average person think horseracing is just all about gambling? Sure, there is gambling on all sports fronts, but I tend to hear a lot more folks talking about the athletic abilites of (human)players in various types of ball games more then they are talking about the money they won on the last ball game.

We "play the ponies" but have you ever heard folks saying they "played such-and-such ball team"? Just wondering about horseracing's reputation amongst the general population. I wonder if it's thought of as the true, athletic challenge that it is (for both horse and jockey). Just food for thought.

At least, when the Breeders was on NBC, I could get the coverage. Now, I am relegated to "after the fact" through RaceReplays or Bloodhorse and the few hours of coverage by ABC.

C'mon ABC, show ALL of the Cup for your Canadian viewers and BC fans.

Chris,

The major networks have already given up on the sport.  ESPN's rating are spiraling downward. The "real fans" are and have been leaving in droves.  If you don't figure a way to cultivate new fans the sport will eventually get no coverage and will die in this country.

To promote by human interest stories doesn't mean showing fillies in the meadow.  You have to build interest and the way you do that is by connecting to people not just on race day coverage, but, throughout the year.

You need tv, newpaper, radio, bill boards and you need to promote the rivalries from early in January right through the spring and into the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown races.  Then promote the summer campaign. Get creative as Sam said. Use humor, bravado, and show the stars ( highlights ).  Mass Marketing!  For crying out loud they don't even try.

Sure it costs money and plenty of it.  But there is GOLD in them there hills if they would just spend the time and money to cultivate it.  You think everyone hasn't heard of Pepsi and Budweiser and Free Credit Report.com. My God man, whoever heard of Free Credit Report.com two years ago, and now everyone has.  This just in, Advertising works!  These companies are known throughout the world and yet they continue to spend millions in advertising. Why?

The Breeders' Cup needs/can do the same thing. So that when Breeders' Cup comes around the name of the trainers, owners and ( most of all ) horses are already heard of.  The rivalries are already built.  The blue bloods have been seperated from the working class and the up and comers are ready to take on the old guard. The stories have been told and retold.  Fire up the masses with rivalries and back stories throughout the entire year so that they are frothing at the mouth in anticipation of the Championships!

This sport could be great once again if it was aggressively campaigned.  It was great once because people knew who the players were.  They followed it throughout the year ( not just on a big race day ).  It was like baseball, in the trenches day in and day out.  There's an audience and the youth of this country would love the sport if only they knew about it.  

People love baseball and basketball and football because they are great sports that are fun, but, also ( and it is a big part ), because they know the players.  They see them and hear about them from other mediums besides game day.  Horse racing has the same ability, but, lacks the leadership and understanding it takes to connect to people.  Gambling is a huge part of racing, but, there is more to offer than that.  The NFL, NBA, MLB all are wagered on as well and still marketed to the masses.  Thoroughbred racing needs leadership and a direction. The sport is fluttering in the wind.

Why has no one suggested that the Breeders Cup be split into 2 separate Saturdays?  They can be on back-to-back weekends or separated by X number of weekends. The two days of racing could be on opposite sides of the US, so more people could attend the races.

Since it doesn't appear that a lot of dollars are going out in promoting the single-venue Breeders Cup, I don't think that diluting the advertising is an issue.  First, you have to have advertising before you can dilute it.  People who really want to see all 9 races (or however many there might be in the future) could go to both events.  All races would be on Saturdays.  Jockeys could ride in both races.

The filly-mare races don't have to be limited to one day.  Two separate programs could be designed, with a mixture of races to provide a complete experience for the race goer.  You could have mostly turf (or turf and polytrack) races at one event and dirt races for the other event.

Why not?

One morning not long ago I woke up early and turned on the TV at 5am. The TV was on NBC and coverage of the Ryder Cup was just beginning.  I thought my god what is that doing on so early in the morning? Then I noticed the ending time for the coverage at 3pm.  Ten straight hours of coverage for golf, now how boring could that have been!  Perhaps if NBC had devoted that much air time to the Breeders' Cup when they had the chance they would still be covering the event.

anncat that has been suggested several times on several blogs. Most think that would diminish the event. Not sure how closely you follow racing but Saratoga has Whitney weekend, Travers weekend and Keeneland has Kentucky Cup weekend all with tons of Graded and ungraded stakes races. Those kinds of days are what led to forming the Breeders Cup in 1984.

They haven't even marketed it all I remember when we saw advertising well before the breeders cup heck the only way to know there is even horse racing on at all is to get on the internet because the regular tv guide doesn't list it usually.  I think ESPN/ABC should fire all their camera men. Roger I agree with you it kind off hard to watch a race when the camera angles change every second. That last broadcast they did was a disaster, we would get only the middle of the field and the rear ends of the leader in the race. they need to turn the zoom off or something, I would rather see a smaller picture and the whole field or at least something other than the butts of the leaders. The BC should have never gone to two days it was fine the way it was and come on Ladies Classic that just for dumb people that can't ask what Distaff means. A real post parade would be nice like the old days. The hosts don't bother me to much but more focus on the races and less fluff.

Oh, no, Anncat - two separate Saturdays? Do you have enough vaction days to take off from work plus the money to afford travel, hotels, and meals (not to mention the tickets) to wait it out the week between the events? The BC needs to be a "user friendly" event. Two separate days is bad enough.

Getting this out to the public could be so easy. How many times do you sign onto Yahoo (or whatever site you use for a home page) and see those pop up ads for cars and yes, credit rating sites? How difficult would it be to plug in those types of ads for horse racing? Well, ok, a strange idea maybe, but it's just a thought.

I've always heard one has to spend money to make money. So, who is going to spend it, how and when will it be accomplished?

Again, I have to wonder how horseracing can build up its reputation. It's not just gambling. And yes, horses need to have longer careers. But that's an entirely separate subject. Heavy sigh.

Jordan A-I must have been in a hurry reading everything.  Not a Kenny fan and really not a Bailey fan.  His comment a few years ago about Jeannine Sahadi (sorry 'bout the spelling) really ticked me off.  He was making fun of her for having a happy barn and I have held a grudge since!  

I really think racing is missing the boat by not begging women to come to the track or watch on the tube.  Most women are paying the bills at home and deciding where the "fun" money is spent.  Women/girls love horses!  Cater to them! Gear commercials towards them, give them t-shirts and flowers.  The "powers that be" need to be kissing up in a big way!  These races should be used as a vehicle to get women involved.  For those of us  in racing we know what this day is about, but make it Christmas for the uninvolved.  Make it "must see T.V"!  Not everyone can get to the Breeder's Cup, but they can get behind the pageantry of it.  It needs to be a spectacle, and I'm not talking about the spectacle it has become.  Women want to know the back story.  They want to know all about the horses-are they nice?  Are they evil?  What did their parents do?  Things that are silly to the committed race people, but not to the casual observer.  Get Garys' blue eyes out there!  Bring on Channing Hill! Someone find Tanner Riggs and for the older crowd, Migs! Do whatever it takes to bring the women on board.  The money will follow. Breeder's Cup weekend is the perfect vehicle to get them involved.  After the Juvenile you will have a built in audience for the Derby, if you keep it in their faces!  

I completely agree. This racing season has been dismal for me, not because there hasn't been good racing, but because NOTHING is broadcast. For those of us who cannot afford cable and don't get ESPN, there has been so little network coverage of stakes races that it might as well not be there. How does racing expect to stay alive with this type of (non) coverage?

Thank you for your brilliant and insightful piece.

Except for the Triple Crown Classic, there's virtually NO coverage of racing nowadays, the Sport of Kings is being neglected once again.

The public will take an interest in what you show them. If you're not getting coverage for/ promoting your sport, there's reciprocally little interest in your sport.

This trickles down to the tracks, and then they're left to wonder why there's no handle. And then they have to start bringing in slots to survive.

More people would be interested in racing, if you SHOWED IT TO THEM.

Where is marketing in the thoroughbred industry? I've seen a couple of great commercials on TV when the Classics were on the line, but how about the rest of the year?

Knock, knock....*hellooooo*

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS. I FOR ONE, LIVE TO WATCH THE HORSES DO, WHAT COMES NATURALLY. RACE!! RUN!!

BRING THE RACES BACK TO US, PLEASE.

Excellent points Shuvani:

One thing I have advocated for years is to have a major day of racing on the Wednesday following Major League Baseball's All-Star game, a made-for-TV night that could be done from a few tracks that could air on ESPN from 7:00-11:00 PM ET/4:00-8:00 PM PT on what is usually the single slowest night for sports of the entire year, and one I think would do very well in exposing new fans to the sport.