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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.
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It don't take no rocket sientist to know that. |
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Hell, whenever they run the BC at Churchill, the Classic is pretty much run in darkness anyway. |
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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?
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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.
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He conveniently forgot about that. |
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it doesn't have a turf course has zero ambience it's like betting at a bus station |
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It makes Hawthorne look like Arlington. The bus station analogy is just about right. |
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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 |
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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. |
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who put orange juice in my orange juice? -wc fields. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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? |
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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. |
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