Apart from the surface issue, like Phil I dont see anything that makes their case and in fact think they are going completely in the wrong direction. While weather can be a nuisance to the on track customers the vast majority of money is bet off track. Having a West Coast BC also makes for an early start for the on track patrons which cant be considered a positive. Marketingwise I dont see how having the event at the same place year after year cant get a little stale to the local media. It isnt as though marketing has helped the industry in CA, especially with traditional cards like the Big Cap which 20 years ago was still a major event that drew 70000+. Selling the industry year after year to CA when the sport is facing serious hurdles there and the everyday racing is in decline is a strange philosophy. So there are 17 milion visitors to CA a year? What the hell does that have to do with anything? Why not hold it at Disneyland?
The Breeders Cup board has to decide just exactly it wants the Breeders Cup to be. Right now they are selling it as something different that what they seemingly believe it to be. Like so many others in the business, they simply dont understand that the best way to improve business is to improve the product, not selling primo seats, squeezing out sponsorship money or tricking people that a permanant host is a swell idea.
Seriously it is the least of my worries as a horseman. I wont nominate any of my foals to the BC because simply having them in a regional state breeding program is more than enough reward. I dont currently have a whole lot of contenders in the barn (though being at AP on a synthetic surface probably would be an advantage over my eastern counterparts if I did). I rarely spend a lot of money betting the 2 days races. But it is important because it is the biggest event in my business in the fall and even if it falls short as a true championship day the marginalization of the event is not a good thing. And you can talk all you want about the reasons why it should have a permanent site but that will serve to marginalize it regardless.
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