BREEDERS' CUP 2011: Thursday Odds and Ends
by Matt Gardner on Oct 20, 2011 5:00 PM EDT
in Breeders' Cup
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A few unrelated Breeders' Cup notes came out today, two of which come via the Thoroughbred Times, and the other from the Daily Racing Form:
-First, So You Think (NZ), fresh of a 4th place finish in the Arc and a 2nd place finish in last Saturday's Champion Stakes on British Champions Day, will enter the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Although the Classic will be So You Think's first try on dirt, he fits the 10 furlong distance much better than the 12 furlong Turf. So You Think has won seven times at ten furlongs but has yet to record a victory in a race longer than 11 furlongs. He's also run well on firmer ground, which should help the transition to dirt.
-The other big bit of news out today is the broadcast schedule for ESPN/ABC and that apparently the network, with three channels and an streaming internet service - ESPN3 - at their disposal, won't be showing the Marathon (Thoroughbred Times: Marathon not part of ESPN's Breeders' Cup Coverage).
The Marathon isn't one of the top Breeders' Cup events, we all know that. It holds Grade 2 status but, for most people, it ranks pretty low on interest when compared to the other races. At the same time, if ESPN/ABC wants to broadcast the Breeders' Cup, then broadcast the Breeders' Cup.
Coverage of the Marathon will be provided by TVG, which is interesting since HRTV is the exclusive CDN broadcaster.
Does anybody else get the feeling that the Breeders' Cup will end up back on NBC/Versus in the future? I certainly do.
-In a final, and unfortunate, bit of news (via DRF.com) is the possibility that Smiling Tiger will miss the Breeders' Cup Sprint due to what trainer Jeff Bonde called "issues".
It happens every year, but it's tough to read about all the horses that are unable to make it to the Breeders' Cup.
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Yeah, Versus and NBC will probably share the BC
The way ESPN and ABC do now. Except NBC/VS will actually care.
Yep.
TV-wsie, I think the BC has lost something in the transition from NBC to ESPN. I’d like to see it back on the network that was there in the beginning (and did a pretty good job for 20+years… and is a network that only shows one college football game on it’s main channel, unlike ESPN/ABC, which horse racing will never be able to compete with). And with Vs. (or I guess it will be renamed NBC Sports Network), they’ve got the space for overflow or to show the whole Friday card, if they choose.
Like I wrote above, I realize the Marathon isn’t the top billed race of the weekend, but it’s a Grade 2 and it IS part of the BC. If their argument is that the casual non-racing fan doesn’t care about the Marathon, you could argue that the causal non-racing fan really doesn’t care about any part of the BC except the Classic. I wish that wasn’t the case, but we know differently.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 21, 2011 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Me too. I like the variety.
It’s a different race with a different kind of horse that excels in it.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 21, 2011 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions
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