JC / Railbird

Breeders’ Cup

An International Triple Crown

Greg Wood commenting on his column re: the Arc or America dilemma:

For as long as Champions Day sits between Paris and America, it will force owners to send a horse to two out of three, and the benefit of extra time to recover means that will, in many cases, be the events on either side of Ascot.

It’s just stupid that they should need to choose at all. Put Champions Day in the right place and you have the makings of a modern Triple Crown, on offer to a horse that can win at Ascot, Longchamp and then in America. What an achievement that would be.

Indeed! It’s hard not to like a proposed schedule that makes the Breeders’ Cup the culmination of a top-tier international season, but there’s a disjunction between audiences that weakens the likelihood of such a set-up, even if the BHA succeeded in finessing the scheduling issues involved — the BC dirt races don’t stir Euro passion, and the turf races are secondary to Americans. On this side of the Atlantic, whether Champions Day is in September or October is all the same to many fans. On the other side, the question is why bother?

Posted in Racing on August 28, 2012 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Champions Day, International, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, UK

“If They Had Polytrack We’d Have Been There”

Juddmonte racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe:

“Prince Khalid loves the Breeders’ Cup and we would love to take Frankel to Santa Anita, Bobby Frankel’s home town — the emotional ties would be fantastic.

“But unfortunately the right race is not there — we are not going to race him on dirt. It’s a pity, because if they had Polytrack we’d have been there.”

No dirt. Even a $5 million purse and sentiment aren’t enough.

Posted in Racing on August 24, 2012 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Frankel, International, Santa Anita, Track Surfaces

Positives

No, not for frog juice. (I’ll leave the negatives for another day.)

Grantland published a terrific interview with musician-chartcaller-reporter Bob Nastanovich that includes this great quote about why he’s working in racing:

So I started working thinking that I could make a positive impact on the sport at different levels, just because I love it so much.

Love the attitude, Bob.

Also praiseworthy: The Breeders’ Cup and Hello Race Fans, two organizations I believe are working in horse racing’s best interests (and not just because they both pay me), are partnering up on fan education. Nice work, all.

Posted in Industry on June 21, 2012 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Hello Race Fans, Partnerships, Press Releases