Archive for the ‘preakness’ Category

By Ray Paulick
Unlike the post position draw for the Kentucky Derby, Wednesday’s Preakness draw was a drama-free zone, with the Derby winner Super Saver getting the No. 8 post and Derby favorite Lookin At Lucky getting post seven in the field of 12. In the Kentucky Derby, there were groans from Lookin At Lucky’s camp when the 2-year-old champion was saddled with the disadvantageous rail post in the 20-horse field. He ended up getting hammered twice in the opening furlong and fell far out of contention early.

If anyone was hurt by the Preakness draw it might be Dublin, who got the outside 12 post, possible front-runner First Dude, who drew 11, and Paddy O’Prado, who go the 10 post.  Since 1909, only eight winners have started in the 10 post or further out, the most recent of course being Rachel Alexandra, who won from post 13 last year under Calvin Borel. Afleet Alex, the sire of Dublin, won from post 12 in 2005. Could that be an omen?

As for Super Saver, who will be ridden by Borel, post eight has won two of the last eight Preaknesses, in 2002 with War Emblem and 2006 with Bernardini. The winningest post position is six, which has accounted for 15 Preakness victories. That post belongs to Jackson Bend.

I’m sticking with Lookin At Lucky as my pick to win the Preakness under the hot young rider Martin Garcia. Who do you like?

Click here for the Preakness post position and morning line odds
 

More controversial than this year’s Preakness field has been the advertising campaign asking people to ‘Get Your Preak On’. Obviously a sexual overtone, many traditionalists are up in arms about sleazing up a sport that prides itself on a certain level of decorum.

Ray Kerrison of the New York Post is one such traditionalist who derides the ad campaign. And scores of others have offered their opinion. So is the campaign too over-the-top or did the folks at the Maryland Jockey Club get it right by knowing such actions would result in this level of publicity? Is this calculated risk making the Preakness a hot ticket again after last year’s heavy drop in attendance?

Read it at the NY Post

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

According to trainer Bob Baffert, Lookin at Lucky will run in the Preakness this Saturday barring an unexpected occurrence. While no one has specifically been named the beaten Derby favorite’s jockey, Martin Garcia is believed to be favorite to get the mount.

Read it at the Blood-Horse

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

In a breaking story from the Blood-Horse, Garrett Gomez will ride Dublin for D. Wayne Lukas in next Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. His Kentucky Derby mount, Lookin at Lucky, is only 52% likely to run according to trainer Bob Baffert and Baffert made it clear if they were to run Lucky in the Preakness, a change in rider would be made.

"I told Ron [Gomez's agent] I didn’t know if I was gonna run the horse, but if I did I was going to make a change only because of the bad luck we’ve been having lately. Just out of respect, I said, ‘if you can find another mount, find it,’ because I didn’t wante him to get shut out of finding a mount [for the Preakness]."

Read it at the Blood-Horse

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

PRESS RELEASE

Winning the Kentucky Derby is a life changing experience. Capturing America’s most famous race as both an owner and breeder is living a dream. Super Saver’s Kentucky Derby win last Saturday did both for WinStar Farms.
 
“A friend asked me if I am getting tired of the phone calls,” said Bill Casner, chairman and co-owner of WinStar Farms. “Bluegrass Cat ran second in the 2006 Derby and nobody called, so this is pretty special.”
 
Special indeed. In 2007, 37,337 foals were born, according to the Jockey Club. Only one can win the 2010 Kentucky Derby and an opportunity at immortality by winning the Triple Crown with the addition of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
 
“It’s just an elusive race to win,” Casner said. “From the time that foal is born to the time he crosses that wire at Churchill, everything has to go perfect. Any interruption compromises the time table. He will also need the experience and the seasoning to be able to perform on the first Saturday in May and then you have all the factors that unfold in the race. Everything has to go perfectly. So when it happened on Saturday, it was a very surreal moment when the horse crossed the wire.”
 
Casner and business partner Kenny Troutt re-entered the racing game after a nearly two-decade absence as partners with Prestonwood Farm and won the 1998 Belmont Stakes with Victory Gallop. Two years later, the duo purchased the 1,450-acre property Versailles, KY., and renamed it WinStar. Super Saver comes from the next-to-last crop of the late sire Maria’s Mon. He was born in March 2007 to the mare Supercharger at WinStar.
 
“It’s a very satisfying feeling,” added Casner, who also bred 2003 Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide . “This win belongs to WinStar. When everybody on your team has a hand in making it happen, that’s a victory you can share. That’s one of the great things about this game. >From the day we signed on the dotted line to buy Prestonwood and it became WinStar Farm, the goal was to breed a horse that could win the Kentucky Derby and we accomplished that with Funny Cide. To do this with a homebred is absolutely beyond dreams.”
 
Super Saver’s next goal is capturing the 135th running of the Preakness® Stakes, the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown. Only 11 thoroughbreds have won the elusive Triple Crown and none since Affirmed in 1978. The $1 million classic is the headline event of the May 15 card at historic Pimlico Race Course.
 
Casner and Troutt’s prize pupil took a one-mile jog shortly after 7 o’clock at Churchill Downs. Looking on was Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manager of WinStar Farm.
 
“The phone is still ringing,” Walden said of the congratulatory calls. “It’s a nice problem to have.”
 
Walden liked what he saw from Super Saver.
 
“He’s feeling good and proud of himself,” said Walden, who saddled Victory Gallop and Menifee to runner-up finishes in the 1998 and 1999 runnings of the Preakness, respectively.
 
Trainer Todd Pletcher is scheduled to return to Louisville from his New York base on Friday night.
 
Super Saver will arrive at Pimlico Wednesday, May 12 on a Tex Sutton plane that is expected to include another Pletcher starter Aikenite, Derby third place finisher Paddy O’Prado and his stablemate First Dude, Pleasant Prince, Hurricane Ike and any runners from the Nick Zito and Bob Baffert stables.
 
“We’ll expect a full gate,” Pletcher said. “You expect plenty of people to show up and give the Preakness a try. It is a race of tremendous magnitude.”
 
As expected Zito announced that Derby runner-up Ice Box would skip the Preakness and be pointed towards the Belmont Stakes on June 5. The Hall of Famer indicated a decision regarding Jackson Bend’s Preakness  status would be made Monday. Jackson Bend, who finished 12th in last Saturday’s Run for the Roses, galloped a mile and a quarter early Thursday morning at Churchill.
 
“I may blow him out Monday, I don’t know,” Zito said. “He’s doing good.”
 
Jackson Bend’s Derby finish marked the first time in 10 starts the colt had not finished first or second.
 
“Mike Smith told me right after the race he wanted to ride him back,” Zito said. “Give him another chance.”
           
Baffert told Pimlico officials a decision on Lookin at Lucky, the Derby betting favorite, and speedy Conveyance, who finished 15th at Churchill Saturday, would be made Monday.
 
“He looks good. He’s got a swagger about him,” Baffert said at Churchill as Lookin At Lucky, sixth in the Derby, left the track. “He (Conveyance) looked nice out there, but there is still a long way to go.”
           
“He’s 51 now,” Baffert said of Lookin At Lucky, speaking of the 50-50 chance of his possible Preakness starters. “This one (Conveyance) is 50.”
 
D. Wayne Lukas’ runners will be the first to settle in the Preakness stakes barn when Dublin and Northern Giant arrive on Tuesday, May 11.
 
Dublin returned to the track for the first time since his seventh-place Kentucky Derby finish, jogging a mile in the first set Lukas sent out Thursday morning.
 
“He’s doing excellent; sharp as a tack,” Lukas said. “You’d never know he even ran.”
           
Schoolyard Dreams finished ahead of Super Saver in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 13. Today the son of Stephen Got Even produced a bullet five furlong work in 59.60 seconds at Monmouth Park with jockey Eibar Coa in the irons. It was fastest of 12 works at the distance this morning and left trainer Derek Ryan brimming with confidence heading into the third Saturday in May.
 
“The work went perfect,” said Ryan, who finished third in the 2009 Preakness with Musket Man. “Finally got something to go right. If we could only get a race to go like this. I’m coming there to win it. I don’t want to be second or third again. That horse should have won last year. If he didn’t get kicked at the three-eighths pole, the most important part of the race, I would have been two or three behind Rachel Alexandra turning for home. We were twelve behind. He did his trademark run, but we were beaten a length and a half.”
 
Ryan will ship into Pimlico the day before the Preakness with Schoolyard Dreams, Ponzi Scheme, who will run in the James Murphy Stakes on the Preakness undercard, and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan starter C C’s Pal.
 
Another live new shooter will be Caracortado. The Southern California-based gelding began his career with five consecutive victories, including an impressive score in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes. The Mike Machowsky trainee then finished third in the Grade 2 San Felipe and a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby where the son of Cat Dreams suffered a minor left foot injury. But the conditioner sees an improved version.
 
“He’s just so much better than he’s been in a long time,” Machowsky said. “He’s fresh and he’s put on weight. He’s not a big horse looking at physically. Before the Santa Anita Derby I put him on a scale and he weighed 1,060 pounds, which was a surprise because I didn’t think he weighed that much. I put him on a scale a few days ago and he picked up 29 pounds since that race.”
 
Caracortado will work seven-eighths Saturday morning at Santa Anita Park and will arrive at Pimlico on May 12.
 
A Little Warm galloped at Delaware Park this morning, according to trainer Tony Dutrow. The Grade 2 Louisiana Derby runner-up will work either Sunday or Monday. John Velazquez will have the Preakness mount.
 
“We are on schedule to come,” Dutrow said. “Everything is fine.”
 
Noble’s Promise returned to the track at Keeneland after spending a few days resting at trainer Kenny McPeek’s farm in Lexington. The front-running fifth place finisher in last Saturday’s Derby was considered “possible” Monday afternoon but his Preakness status is now unclear.
 
“No firm decision has been made on Noble Promise’s next start,” McPeek said. “He did come out of the Derby in good order.”
 
Graham Motion entered Turf Melody in Saturday’s Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park. The trainer said this morning he expects the son of Maria’s Mon to run in New York.
 
“At this point I’m 90% sure he’ll run in the Dwyer,” Motion said. “Unless the Preakness field should start to fall apart.”
 
Make Music for Me walked the shedrow at Keeneland this morning. Trainer Alexis Barba indicated the fourth place finisher from Saturday’s Derby would return to the track tomorrow and is not expected in Baltimore next weekend.
 
“It is very unlikely we’ll be headed to the Preakness but very likely we’ll be part of the Belmont field,” Barba said. "I was confident he’d go a mile and a quarter (the Kentucky Derby distance) and I am confident he can go a mile and a half (Belmont Stakes distance) because he finishes strong every time."
 
The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Fifteen of the last 18 years have seen double-digit starters.

STATEMENT FROM TRAINER NICK ZITO ON THE STATUS OF KENTUCKY DERBY RUNNER-UP ICE BOX
 
“After talking to Mr. [Bob] LaPenta we concurred that Ice Box’s race was tremendous, but we also knew it was a tough race.  We feel that we are better-suited to wait and pass the Preakness and possibly go on to the Belmont and, hopefully, things work out.  Also, we have more evaluation to do with Jackson Bend and will make a decision on his status for the Preakness on Monday.”

After a depressed infield at last year’s Preakness due to the ban on the tradition of bringing your own beer, executives have made a move to try and bring back the crowd that abandoned Pimlico last year. Organizers are cutting the cost of admission and offering all-you-can-drink-beer.

For only $20, each infielder can purchase a refillable cup along with a $10 cut in admission. "We were boycotted by the college kids, but we still believe that was the right decision," said Mike Gathagan, spokesman for the Maryland Jockey Club. "Obviously, we took something from them last year. This is trying to give something back."

Will this bring back the college kids or has the damage already been done? I suspect where there’s all-you-can-drink-beer, college-aged and college-minded folks of all stripes will be there in droves.

Read it at the Baltimore Sun

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
I don’t expect Jess Jackson to surprise us and call in with the Rachel Alexandra announcement the racing world has been breathlessly waiting for (you know, will she or won’t she?), but one never knows. Chip Woolley might give us some thoughts about potential jockeys for Mine That Birdor or even talk about Stupid Motorcycle Tricks. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin could charm us into believing that Charitable Man is a cinch to win the Belmont Stakes, and Jerry Hollendorfer may convince us that all Chocolate Candy needed in the Kentucky Derby was another quarter mile.

At any rate, starting shortly after 1 p.m. (EDT), I’ll be live blogging the NTRA’s Triple Crown teleconference call concerning the June 6 Belmont. Trainers Woolley, McLaughlin and Hollendorfer are the scheduled guests. I’m betting that moderator Eric Wing’s questions will be twice as long as the answers given by two of the three men (you can guess which one is more verbose!), but, hey, it’s a slow news day.

1:05 p.m. … This isn’t starting off well. The Muzak renditionwhile of the Beatles "I"m Happy Just to Dance With You" while I was on hold waiting for the conference to begin was utterly depressing. John and George are spinning in their graves. I didn’t know the song was a slow ballad.

1:07 p.m. … Eric Wing starts off with Chip Woolley and asks if there will be enough pace in the race if Rachel Alexandra doesn’t go. He’s not worried, saying that a slow pace puts Mine That Bird closer to the pace than usual. How long will he wait for a jockey if the decision about Rachel Alexandra extends till next week, putting Calvin Borel on the fence? "About to or close to entry time. I’m gonna give Calvin as much time as possible…to keep him from losing two mounts. He won me the Derby. I owe him the opportunity if it’s possible."

"It’s irrelevant to me" if the filly does or doesn’t go, Woolley says. He just wants Calvin on his horse. "I believe it would be good for racing (if Rachel goes). It brought out a lot of people last time."

1:10 p.m. … "It’s been a lot of fun…the one thing it’s done is validated my career," Woolley said when asked what winning the Derby meant to him. Woolley said he spent 25 years working hard and the Kentucky Derby gave him "validation" for what he’s done. "I thought today he looked as good as he’s looked…period," Woolley said of Mine That Bird’s condition. He expressed some concern that Mine That Bird’s closing kick might be compromised a bit on the Belmont’s deeper surface.

What has he learned about training a horse through the demanding the Triple Crown? "Fortunately for me, my horse only runs about three-eighths of a mile, so it’s not quite as hard on him as it has been for the other horses," he said. "It’s just horse racing. It’s just on a higher level. You just try to keep your horse in the best of shape and hope you don’t miss anything."

"He’ll gallop Friday, Saturday, Sunday, work Monday, walk Tuesday and leave Wednesday," he said of the Birdstone gelding’s schedule.

"You’ve got to respect Charitable Man, he’s a monster on that racetrack," Woolley said when asked about who he fears. Woolley said you have to respect all of the competitors in the race.

Woolley said his stable back in New Mexico is in the hands of his brother, though he checks in daily. "I have to keep my fingers in it. I can’t stand not to," he said.

1:18 p.m. … Is Woolley concerned about the effects the Triple Crown will have on Mine That Bird, who could have a long career since he is a gelding? The trainer said he plans to give him a month off  after the Belmont and only has three more races scheduled for the year. "He’s handled it well (so far)," Woolley said. "If the horse hadn’t been on his very best game we probably would have passed it up," he said of the Belmont. "I haven’t put much thought to it," Woolley said when asked whether or not he thinks Rachel Alexandra will run in the Belmont. 

1:20 p.m. … How important is timing Mine That Bird’s move in the Belmont. "Absolutely," it’s important. "If you push the button too early you could come up empty at the wire. It’s imperative we get the right trip and make our move at the right time. If you look at previous Belmonts, on average the horses closer to the pace tend to win. History says you need to be a little closer to the pace. So he’s got his work cut out for him."

"I’ve seen the films of Birdstone winning the Belmont, but it has no bearing on my horse’s race," Woolley said when asked about Mine That Bird’s breeding. "We were the best horse in the Derby on that given day and I felt we were the best horse in the Preakness on that day. Going into this I think we have the best horse."

"I managed to get him beat twice at Sunland Park…so I can see why he went off at long odds in the Derby. What nobody paid much mind to was that we changed his tactics."

What are the three races he’s plotted out? "We haven’t really decided where those races are and what they’re going to be, other than the Breeders’ Cup," he said.  Woolley said he is likely to return Mine That Bird to Churchill Downs after the Belmont, or somewhere close to Churhill. "We’re looking at all options, every major race around. It could be anywhere," he said.

1:25 p.m. … Was there any change of equipment from Sunland to the Kentucky Derby? "D bit and a tongue tie. That’ s all he really needs. The horse is such an easy horse to ride, so he doesn’t need any specific equipment. The main thing is just to ride with patience. That’s all I really wanted."

1:28 p.m. … Can Mine That Bird make a transition in running style to be closer to the lead at the eighth pole and will he like the "big sandy," the nickname of Belmont’s main track. "I don’t think the depth of the racetrack will probably bother him as much as the other horses," he said. Woolley said he isn’t going to change Mine That Bird’s running style.

Why did he ship back to Churchill after the Preakness instead of going to Belmont? "He got a little rattled on me when I got him to Pimlico. As soon as he got back here he settled right in." Woolley knew Mine That Bird had trained well at Churchill and was concerned about how well he would handle Belmont in the mornings during the two breezes schedule between the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

1:30 p.m. … "I don’t want Calvin sitting on the sidelines,"  Woolley said again about the delay in naming a rider. For that, he deserves some kudos. He understands the pickle Borel is in between Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird, and it would be easy for him to go out and get another rider ("They’ve all called me," he said.) Woolley just moved up in my book because of that loyalty to Borel.

1:32 p.m. … Kiaran McLaughlin is on. Is the Belmont a race in which tactical speed is important? "I think you have to be forwardly placed most of the time, but it’s also what your competition is and how the race shapes up for each horse. Mine That Bird, I agree with his trainer that he’s going to continue to run his style. Jazil (McLaughlin’s Belmont winner) had that style and we didn’t change. I have a lot of respect for Mine That Bird…but I wouldn’t trade places with anybody."

1:35 p.m. … What does McLaughlin make of Rachel Alexandra’s effort in the Preakness? "She’s a superstar, and it was a great day for our industry…although for both of them to run back in 35 days or 36 days it’s hard to do that. So it will be hard on her and tough on her to win the Belmont in a mile and  a half. Mine That Bird is a tough little horse. I DON’T see them running Rachel Alexandra."

How has Charitable Man bounced back? "He was one more work scheduled this Saturday, and then gallop to the race after that. He’s training great, eating well…he’s doing very well."  Does Charitable Man need a fast track? McLaughlin doesn’t think so. "He can handle anything other than the Polytrack," he said.

"I don’t think it is a big advantage (training on the Belmont surface," McLaughlin said. "The advantage is that we’re here." He said the stress of travel for horses can make a difference. "He doesn’t have to travel. He doesn’t have to get on a van or a plane, so that’s a plus. Belmont isn’t the kind of racetrack that horses either like or dislike."

What happened to Charitable Man to delay his 3-year-old campaign? "He cracked a shin," McLaughlin said, having a screw put on the bone and later removed. "We just didn’t have enough time to have him fit enough to run in a proper series of prep races. We made the choice to go in the Blue Grass (three weeks before the Derby). … Mr. Warren (the owner) was kind enough and patient enough to wait for the Peter Pan." The shin is completey healed, McLaughlin added.

"I’ve always dreamt fo winning the Kentucky Derby, and it’s hard to pass up the Kentucky Derby if you have a horse that qualifies on graded earnings. … I just thought running back in three weeks off the Blue Grass" would be detrimental for the rest of the year. "He’s a great sportsman," McLaughlin said of Warren, "and I didn’t have to twist his arm (not to run in the Derby." Warren wanted to do what was best for the horse, McLaughlin said. What a concept!

"He’s a beautiful horse, a magnificent horse," McLaughlin said of Charitable Man. 

1:43 p.m. "After he ran in the Preakness," McLaughlin said of Mine That Bird, "I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a gutsy little gelding." McLaughlin was stabled in the same barn as Mine That Bird before the Derby and said there was no comparison in looks between his horse and the Derby. "He’s a little gelding who cost $9,500 as a yearling," he said. McLaughlin thought Calvin Borel and the wet track had a lot to do with the Derby win, but felt the Preakness validated him as a good horse.

1:45 p.m. … McLaughlin said he actually had three horses under consideration for this year’s Derby and ran none of them. In the future, he said, he’d run four or five in the race if he could. "God put our eyes in the front of our head, so I always look forward, so I’m not going to look backwards," McLaughlin said, when asked if he thinks he might have been able to win the Derby with Charitable Man.

"Part of me wants to see her run and part of me doesn’t," McLaughlin said of the Rachel Alexandra’s possible run in the Belmont. "If she runs, she’ll probably be forwardly placed, and I do think we can beat her," he added. "It would mean a lot to the Belmont Stakes and NYRA if she’s in it, but Mine That Bird brings a lot to the race." Does a mile and half take more out of a filly? "It probably does…but I don’t think the mile and a half takes more out a horse than a mile and a quarter does on the first Saturday in the May." The faster fractions and bigger field make the Derby a tough race on a horse, McLaughlin said.

1:50 p.m. … Mafaaz, the horse who qualified for the Kentucky Derby by winning a race in England and then ran poorly in the Blue Grass Stakes, is now at Shadwell Farm in Lexington. He was switched from John Gosden to McLaughlin. McLaughlin said the horse has been gelded and will probably run at Saratoga.

1:52 p.m. … Jerry Hollendorfer is on the line. "He seems to be getting over the (Belmont) strip. He’s getting over the track very well (in his workouts and gallops)," Hollendorfer said. "Garrett’s ridden Chocolate Candy before and he’s won on hm last year. We’ very happy to have Garret (Gomez) riding our horse. He’s one of the best in the country." 

"You can only guess (on whether Chocolate Candy has improved since the Kentucky Derby). We think we’re in a pretty good position, going over the racetrack, and we think we can get the mile and a half. … I’d rather be more forwardly placed (than Mine That Bird figures to be). We should be a little better placed than we were in the Derby."

1:55 p.m. … "He’s been doing very well at Belmont. When Garrett worked him he said he got over the track very well." What were Hollendorfer’s impressions of the Preakness? "I don’t know how they’ll bounce b ack, but I assume if both are starters they have been doing very well. Speed is an asset in any race (and Rachel Alexandra would bring in a great deal of speed). The Belmont has been good for speed horses. I think Mine That Bird is a very legitimate horse. I don’t think there’s doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s a real runner."

Some guy in San Francisco wants to know if Hollendorfer can sleep in an airplane and whether he flies first class or coach! "Yes," to sleeping Hollendorfer says, and "no" to first class. "I flew Jet Blue to New York, and they don’t have first class," he said.

I think we must be nearing the end of this call.

2:00 p.m. … Where does Chocolate Candy rank with some of Hollendorfer’s past runners? "He’s one of the best that I’ve tried to take the Triple Crown races. He’s a beautiful looking horse and he covers a lot of ground."

That’s it from the NTRA Triple Crown teleconference.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Bradford Cummings
Oftentimes, the racing industry loses sight of what is important when trying to market its product. Talk of increased handle, while necessary for the bottom line of racetracks, does not change the public perception and momentum of a sport that has continued a slow and steady slide over the last 20 years. In order to grow this sport, racing needs new fans, not old fans making more bets.
 
So when the ratings came out for the Kentucky Derby and most recently the Preakness Stakes, it was a breath of fresh air and a much-needed shot in the arm for the psyche of racing. The first two legs of the Triple Crown brought in an average of 13.4 million viewers, the most since 1989 when Sunday Silence won both Classics over Easy Goer in a spirited East vs. West rivalry.
 
Individually, the Kentucky Derby brought in 16.3 million viewers with a 9.8 rating and 23 share, up 2.1 million viewers from last year. The Preakness came in at a strong 10.9 million viewers, pulling a 6.8 rating and 16 share. This number was up 3 million viewers from last year’s version with Big Brown easily pulling away from the field.
 
For those not familiar with the television ratings system, the Derby’s 9.8 rating means that 9.8% of all households with televisions were tuned into NBC’s telecast on the first Saturday of May while the 23 share means 23% of all televisions in use watched Mine That Bird pull an unprecedented upset. That means nearly a quarter of all Americans watching television showed an interest in racing’s biggest event.
 
Perhaps most significant was the true lack of a compelling storyline going into the race. Most of the favorites had been sidelined before the Derby, and morning line favorite I Want Revenge was scratched the morning of the race with an injury, leaving what has been proved to be an overrated colt from the Louisiana circuit in Friesan Fire as the betting choice. And while other sports have the ability to build audience throughout the course of a 3 hour game, the fact that a 50-1 shot won the race would have had virtually no effect on the ratings because of how quickly the telecast ends.
 
Much credit must go to NBC, which did an admirable job selling the event throughout the week prior with promos on mainstream mainstays like the Today Show and investing in a solid marketing campaign. The fact a long shot won only added to the mystique of the Derby they so effectively sold.
 
That momentum allowed for the male vs. female storyline to be created with Rachel Alexandra and the unintended positive consequences of media coverage from Mark Allen and Ahmed Zayat’s conspiring to keep her on the sidelines. Proving the old adage there’s no such thing as bad press, the Preakness well out performed every other running this decade except for Smarty Jones in 2004, which brought a 7.7 rating and 23 share.
 
Of course, all of these numbers are irrelevant without some perspective and comparison to other top events in high profile professional U.S. sports. While the Kentucky Derby will not be in the same league as the Super Bowl anytime soon with its 42 rating, racing’s biggest day in 2009 stands incredibly strong with other major championship equivalents.
 
The final game of the NBA Championship from last year, in a matchup of the two most storied franchises in the league, drew only 12.6 million viewers.  The Stanley Cup Playoffs featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins never saw more than 6.8 million folks tune in to a game. The Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR, was down this year to a modest 15.95 million television fans. Even America’s Pastime peaked with just 15.49 million at home spectators during last year’s final World Series game.

Something the ratings do not take into account is the large number of racing fans who watch and wager on events like the Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup at a local track or simulcast site. Kentucky Derby Day is the biggest day of the year at some tracks, and those in attendance are not counted as television viewers.

This ranks the Kentucky Derby as the second most watched professional sporting championship of the last year, a fact few in the industry would have assumed. And the news is actually better than it looks. Wedged in at around 6 p.m. EST and potentially distracted by the dinner bell or an eventful Saturday, a viewer more likely schedules their day around the Derby coverage whereas a typical championship game appears during the primetime hours of 8-11 pm. That coupled with the lack of build up for the average racing fan as evidenced by the paltry ratings of preps like the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby, means racing has a legitimate opportunity to capture the imagination of the public if marketed correctly.
 
With drug issues and safety concerns being taken seriously, there will be an opening for racing to breeze through. Will we take the opening and shoot through like Mine That Bird’s last to first rally on May 2nd? Will we look at what we have and figure out how to sell this beautiful sport to the masses beyond the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes? Can we turn the Breeders’ Cup into a legitimate championship that builds from January on?
 
The good news is we can.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris Clay, The Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network

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