Jim Gluckson response to BC changes
 

I received a lengthy (albeit party line) response from Jim Gluckson, the press guy for the Breeders Cup, re: "Ladies Day". Here it is:

"I’ve also seen the news reports and blogs among those who are unhappy about the switch to an all female Breeders’ Cup Friday. If you’ve had your Breeders’ Cup Saturday virtually the same way for 24 years, I can understand being upset and why are “they ruining the best card in racing.” You may be right, but we think, over the next few years, that the changes will strengthen the event in the concept of a two-day championship."

"From our perspective, we don’t want to continue observing Friday being appetizers and Saturday the main course for the event. We want to make both days Championship days with excellent racing. We don’t see Friday being viable down the road if the day is relegated to just $1 million races. Yes, you are correct, we will make it harder for those in the Mountain and Western time zones to bet the Friday races if you have to work. I know this doesn’t make it much easier for you, but five Breeders’ Cup Friday races will be run from 4-7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The races will also be streamed live on breederscup.com."

"I don’t believe that moving the Ladies’ Classic and the Filly and Mare Turf to Friday diminishes the importance of those races. It’s still the Breeders’ Cup. But if we find that handle is reduced significantly on both days because of these changes, we will certainly look at this again. Thanks -Jim Gluckson"

The final line is especially compelling. I am not putting a dime into Friday's card and will cut my typical stake in half on BC Saturday. Hope others consider doing something similar.

So the real reason behind having it at SA 2 years in a row is because they want to have Fridays races stretch until 7 pm which is not possible in the Midwest or East coast.

If they want to be creative and actually draw interest from new potential fans they would run the BC at night. At least once.

It don't take no rocket sientist to know that.

Know your talking -- how come the ideas on DT are so much better then the ones by the people pulling the strings at the BC?

Wherever. Hollywood has lights, Lone Star has lights, other tracks have lights. It's not that hard. Most of the night college football games use temporary lights on flatbed trailers.

Hell, whenever they run the BC at Churchill, the Classic is pretty much run in darkness anyway.

Other than Hollywood which tracks are set up for night racing, than can accomidate the Cup?

My Breeder's Cup feelings, in general, have been stated over and over again, but one thing I will say is that I know Jim Gluckson pretty well, and I have only good things to say about him. Racing needs more Jim Glucksons. Whether I necessarily agree with what he says I very much respect him and give his comments the same respect. He's one of the good guys.

Good luck to them getting Prime Time television coverage.....especially on any Saturday.

Fairmount has lights.

My suggestion would be to permanently re-locate the BC to Fairmount, start the races at 3:30 in the morning on Christmas, and only show the races on HRTV.

Oh yeah, and even though Fairmount actually has lights.....don't turn any of them on.

I propose to have the start time at 6 a.m. This caters to the majority of racing fans.

oh, friday isn't lesser?! yeah, that's why the classic stayed as the last race on saturday.
why not run the turf for boys friday, the classic saturday? they could have done a better job of mixing things up then relegate the non future studs to friday.

I know you are obviously joking but since you are in Chicago I am curious if you have ever been to Fairmount?

Woodbine

I am sure he is ... I thanked him up and down for the personal response. I totally disagree him but he did take the time to respond which says alot.

Instead of trying to make Friday into a main course day instead of an appetizer day, how about doing away with the Friday BC concept all together, thus fixing every problem at one fell swoop?

It's remarkable to think something so brilliant can come from the mind of someone who thought Adriano was a lock from the 12 hole in the Fountain Of Youth.

Hell, we just gotta look at it as another wagering day.....forget all the glitz and if it's worth playing, well then play.....if not, then don't. The Breeder's Cup LTD ain't gonna change.

He conveniently forgot about that.

Or even better,how about just getting rid of breeders cup altogether??

I've been to Fairmont

it doesn't have a turf course

has zero ambience
it's like betting at a bus station

Yeah I've been multiple times, although not in the last few years.

It makes Hawthorne look like Arlington.

The bus station analogy is just about right.

Maybe I'm in the minority - but I always loved Breeders Cup Saturday. If it wasn't the greatest day in Sports - it sure was the greatest day in racing.

I think people are upset because everything is a prep for the Breeder's Cup instead of the main event. The Jockey Gold Cup etc...

I love the old format
now they are just diluting the water

I don't think you're in the minority at all. Most racing fans love the stupid Breeders' Cup.

It is only a few of us old-fashioned types that detest it as a sport-killing monstrosity.

I'm not old enough to think it was anything other than a brilliant idea.

However, they are doing a real fine job of ruining it.

Not to stray too far off-topic, but after reading the initial quote, wouldn't it have been easier to stomach a name change for the cumbersome "Filly and Mare Turf" to "Ladies Turf" rather than changing the "Distaff" to the cheesy "Ladies Classic"?

Of course, "Distaff Turf" would have been fine, too.

"now they are just diluting the water"

who put orange juice in my orange juice?

-wc fields.

I also did, and still do. Attending the '01 BC was one of my lifetime highlights... as was the '06 BC. however I'm in the majority that these changes are terrible.

I have always and still do love the BC. I don't understand anyone that thinks that the BC is what's messing up horse racing. Do these same people think that the Derby is messing up the sport because more and more trainers are looking at just using two preps instead of three now? The Derby hasn't changed. It's the mentality of the trainers and owners that's changed. The BC hasn't changed. It's the mentality of the trainers and the owners that's changed. The BC didn't go to Belmont and tell them to change the distances of their prep races in order to make them better suited to be preps for the BC. That was their own doing. Don't blame the BC for that. The BC didn't make guys like Frankel and Pletcher decide that they send their horses in off of two month breaks. The BC concept has not changed. It was and still is a great one.

This furor over the shuffling of the races is just silly, IMO. I think that Gluckson is absolutely correct in that most of it is because people get used to tradition and hate change. I think he's correct that in a few years, these changes will have helped the Friday card become more meaningful. I can tell you honestly that if Discreet Cat hadn't been running in the Dirt Mile, I very likely would have missed the Friday card last year. I had absolutely no interest in watching any of the other horses running. But because I was going to tune in to watch DC, I watched the other races too. This year, I will surely be tuning in to watch the Distaff (or whatever it's called) and the F/M Turf and because I'll be watching, I'll see the other races too. So for at least one fan, this move is doing exactly what Gluckson is saying they want it to do and I'm sure I'm not alone.

I've always felt that people that are reluctant to change are what's been causing the slow death of this sport. All change doesn't have to be bad. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's necessary.

You and I have argued this many times, so I won't go over my whole argument again, but first of all I honestly don't know how you can say that the BC hasn't changed.
The '08 and the '09 BCs will look a lot different than the BCs in the 1980s:

First of all, (and most importantly) there will be no dirt races.
Secondly, it will be a 2-day "event."
Thirdly, there will be a bunch of new races.

As for the larger point, nobody in their right mind would argue that the BC is the one and only thing destroying this sport. There are a lot of contenders in that department. The bottom line for me is that the BC was a terrible idea in the begining, and it seems to be getting worse and worse all the time.

As for comparing the Derby and the BC, I know that you know what a ridiculous analogy that is, so I won't take the time to respond to that.....again.

The whole fricken point is that it shouldn't be on network TV...Racing is NOT a national sport.. the only time it transends into mainstream sports is when a superstar horse or story evolves.. Racing should embrace it's TVG/HRTV fan base and develop programming and content for it's showcase day, inconjuction with its wagering outlets.

Imagine experts on racing examining and delving into racing for 6 - 8 weeks prior to the races? Build your foundation then grow your business..It's really fairly simple.

Let's make everyday a Breeders Cup day!!

The concept of the BC hasn't changed. That's what I said. It was started as a day at the end of the year to get the top horses in each division together to have championship races. That's still what it is. The new races and the second day don't change that. I can't believe that you are holding the dirt/synthetic issue against the BC. They weren't the ones that mandated the CA tracks to install the stuff. With Churchill taking themselves out of the running and Gulfstream basically doing the same, what is the BC supposed to do? Alternate it back and forth between Belmont and Woodbine? A lot of the complaining being heard about the BC being at SA in back to back years is not due to the synthetic track but about it being way out here on the West Coast. So should they solve that problem by permanently holding it on the East Coast?

I don't know why the Derby analogy was a bad one. One of the main problems people seem to think they have with the BC is the way that trainers alter their schedules to fit with the BC. Isn't that the same thing trainers do with the Derby?

Cease to exist.

Oh, and with regards to the synthetic issue, part of me hopes they run the BC on synthetic every year.
If they do, there might be a chance that people who train real live dirt horses might start planning campaigns that ignore the BC altogether. That might just be wishful thinking on my part, but it seems reasonable.....that is if there are any dirt tracks left in a few years.

the derby hasn't changed, the bc hasn't changed, but we should accept the changes that have been made?

Or that Cool Coal Man was a piece of sheet...:mad: