JC / Railbird

Media

Finding a Way

From Jay Bergman’s remembrance of Sports Eye founder Jack Cohen:

What was so impressive about Mr. Cohen to me was his ability to get around obstacles in his way. At the forefront of his effort to put out past performances in Sports Eye, his publication that had only given entries, results and selections, was an obstacle called the track program. The program printed for the tracks at Roosevelt and Yonkers was a product of Doc Robbins. That product was a monopoly of sorts and Mr. Cohen had to figure out how to get access to information in advance of race day in order to provide “his version” of past performances in a timely fashion. Ultimately what he did was pay off Robbins’ employees to provide him a minimal amount of information that would allow for his staff to connect-the-dots and provide a competitive product.

I love these stories of people hustling to get around data monopolies, even if they’re all from decades ago, and racing data is now stagnant.

Posted in Racing on May 14, 2017 / Tagged Daily Racing Form, Data, Media, Newspapers, Past Performances, Sports Eye

Reserved

Todd Pletcher at Saratoga.

The latest two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer has a reputation:

“Todd Pletcher isn’t one to lay his cards out on the table.”

“Pletcher’s unflappability is legendary.”

“Pletcher is the IBM of trainers, a practical, taciturn man for whom the addition of a very modest white goatee is considered a radical play.”

“Pletcher … always measures his words and emotions closely.”

“The stoic one cracked out a big smile…. As vanilla as he might be in some ways, there are honorable qualities within Pletcher …”

“The usually imperturbable trainer admitted he had shed a tear beneath his shades.”

“It was not exactly what you would have expected from Pletcher. Mr. Cool, Calm, Collected.”

“Todd Pletcher’s permafrost finally melted.”

Posted in Racing on May 8, 2017 / Tagged Kentucky Derby, Media, Todd Pletcher, Trainers

Details

Tim Layden on preparing to write his Sports Illustrated Triple Crown story:

Among the anecdotes I hoped to use involved Team Baffert and its use of the Spanish slang word chingon, which came up frequently. Journalists are hard-wired to protect what they think—or know—might be exclusive information. At one point during Belmont week, when I was alone with Baffert, I said to him, “You’re a chatty guy. Do me a favor and let’s keep chingon between us.” He did, and I’m thankful for that, too.

That’s access.

Posted in Racing on June 10, 2015 / Tagged Media, Sports Illustrated, Triple Crown

Triple Uniformity

Mike Vaccaro on American Pharoah:

In one magical romp around the Belmont Racetrack oval, he elicited a level of fanaticism the sport hasn’t known, quite literally, in decades.

Or, since Zenyatta, in certain quarters. A corner of Twitter lit up when the weekly NTRA Thoroughbred Poll appeared Monday and American Pharoah was #1, but one vote short of unanimity. Someone had voted Shared Belief on top.

“Inane,” said a turf writer, demanding an explanation.

Shared Belief was the #1 horse last week. He’s the #2 horse this week.

The voter doesn’t need a defense. I mean, “over a weekly list? LOL.”

It’s a funny argument, except it’s also representative of an orthodox tendency within racing media, a group increasingly dominated by trade-affiliated outfits (Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, TVG, etc.) and freelancers, who move between journalism and public relations within the industry out of necessity. It’s a tendency that makes room for unchallenged narratives — that portray trainer Bob Baffert as transfigured by his Triple Crown horse, smoothing the complicated edges of his story; that deny criticism of marketing initiatives such as America’s Best Racing or the “Big Day” trend by dismissing the heterodox as “haters.” It makes it hard to hold a contrary opinion. Who wants to be the odd person out, especially when we share one love — the horse?

Posted in Racing on June 9, 2015 / Tagged American Pharoah, Media, NTRA Poll, R360, Triple Crown