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Originally Posted by Travis Stone
How many times did you hear or read how going to the Preakness was not in her best interests, or made no sense, or there was no point.
Imagine if she was never bought by Jess Jackson. Mine That Bird would not of had the pace to close in on, Musket Man would have likely been the Preakness winner and the buzz surrounding this year's Preakness would be non-existent.
Handle on the card yesterday was exceptionally strong - this stuff works. Having big match-ups, big names, stars - it works.
Now I read in various locations how going to the Belmont makes no sense with Rachel Alexandra. Huh?
Kudos to Jess Jackson for putting her in a spot where she belonged. And provided she is healthy and no worse for the wear, I hope it's the Belmont next.
It's weekends like this which prove horse racing still has a place.
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A few things...
The pace assumption is incorrect because no one seems to be taking into account that HULL would have run had Rachel not run... So there very well may have been a similar set up for Mine That Bird because Hull was certainly goinmg to be on the engine, and Bird very well could have won under those conditions.
Not sure where you seemed to read or hear exclusively that there was no sentiment or excitement or eagnerness for Rachel Alexandra's running. I found the opposite to be totally the case... I had nearly 100 calls to 'At the Races' this week and could have taken many more. EVERYONE was excited and NO ONE that I talked to took the anti-running stance. The only place I saw a vapid argument about it was Rick Bozich's pathetic piece in the C-J.
I'm getting tired of this alleged relevence discussion. The "Racing still matters" crap... Enough. Why are people so insecure about their interest or involvement in racing? If a certain segment of the population, even a vast majority, doesn't get it.. WHO CARES? PHUCK THEM ALREADY... It's an enormous multi-billion dollar a year business... Stop worrying about who in the ESPN-driven world likes racing. There's more than enough people interested in the game. Instead of worrying about some network morons catching on and doing the work for us, take it upon yourself to grow interest in the game one fan at a time.
We have the entire Internet at our disposal and people are worried about what the tired, hackneyed media outlets are doing.