More was great…Mort, not so great

By Jude T. Feld

I am a stick in the mud purist.

I think all saddle towels should be black with white numbers.

I think fans should know the Eton blue and brown means “Whitney” and the black and cherry means “Phipps.”

I think all “entries” should be coupled.

I don’t think jockeys should advertise on their pants.

I miss the paddock bar at Gulfstream, the tiled apron at Santa Anita and the ivy-covered paddock at Del Mar, not to mention Jimmy Kilroe.

But I love the Breeders’ Cup.

Morton Cathro wrote an opinion, published in the Blood-Horse recently, opposed to the expansion of “racing’s biggest days.”

“More is less,” he said.

Mr. Cathro witnessed the 2007 Breeders’ Cup from the friendly confines of Pleasanton simulcasting, where I am sure that weather was much more clement than what those of us at Monmouth faced, and then gently eschewed the $30 million handle on Friday’s events.

How many tracks in this world handle $30 million on a cold and rainy Friday?

He saw the paltry $111 million Saturday handle as a function of the takeout, the limited bankroll of the Saturday $2 bettor, weather, track conditions, the nation’s economy and the fact that, “a large majority of horseplayers always will lose money. Losing on Friday leaves one with less cash with which to pay the bills and to risk on Saturday.”

So despite being poor, wet, notorious losers with a lame-duck president and a dim outlook for the near future, “the backbone of the industry” managed to push over $111 million through the Monmouth windows, two bucks at a time. (No wonder the betting lines were so long.)

What a crepe-hanger this guy is.

The Breeders’ Cup’s chief rival is the Dubai World Cup. Sheik Mohammed puts on an entire “carnival” of racing…weeks in advance of World Cup day. Horsemen from around the globe participate in this extravaganza, flying in at intervals, to take a shot at the magnificent purses offered along the way to Nad al Sheba’s biggest day. Shouldn’t the Breeders’ Cup at least try to keep pace?

In a country where we play baseball in the snow and hockey in the dog days of summer because the players’ ludicrous salaries require the seasons to be long and the playoffs extended, I hardly think it is an imposition to America’s horseplayers to have back-to-back days of world-class racing.

Most fans who attend the Breeders’ Cup don’t just drive in on Saturday like they are going to Beulah for an afternoon of sport. They arrive at the host track at least couple of days in advance just like they do for the Oaks and Derby…Why not get the Grey Goose flowing?

I will admit, being a stick in the mud purist, that I was apprehensive about a two-day Breeders’ Cup.

It was wet and cold in New Jersey, the track was off, but I was still very pleasantly surprised. This year’s Breeders’ Cup was outstanding. Having covered almost every major race last summer, I can tell you that despite the horrible weather, the Breeders’ Cup at Monmouth was as good as racing gets.

More was certainly not less. More was great!

What’s wrong with races for varied types of runners? Why should a crack female sprinter be forced to run two-turns in order to participate? Why should a two-year-old bred for the turf have to run on another surface? Why not have a turf sprint and a two-mile marathon on Polytrack?

Breeders take years raising top Thoroughbreds and owners shell out big money for them. Horsemen want to see their horses shine “when the whole world is watching.”

Let’s give them all their best shot at success.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Featured Articles. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.