Influence the '08 Breeders' Cup

[Alan07]

Trakus

[Scav]

Originally Posted by Alan07

Trakus

Either Trakus or get colored saddlecloths, this must be done for the people with lesser eyesight or bad hearing

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Scav

Either Trakus or get colored saddlecloths, this must be done for the people with lesser eyesight or bad hearing

Come on Scavs.. Who that follows racing has those kind of physical limitations...?

[Riot]

What a clever thing to do, actually listen to the fans! Well done, Rick!

[JJP]

Originally Posted by Cardus

I understand the saddlecloth issue to an extent, but for me, its way overplayed.

Can't people follow jockey silks to recognize their horse(s), and of the major contenders in a race?

Usually, it's not difficult.

Who wants to memorize 12 different sets of owners colors numerous times a day? They have to get the saddlecloth thing straightened out. No excuse not to have it.

I also would suggest to use the home track's camera feed so we can avoid all the camera cuts that the networks seem to love.

[Rudeboyelvis]

Traditional saddlecloths....and a roof j/k

I'll add to the email and I'm not sure if it's budgetarily or logistically feasable, but I love the camera that's mounted to a vehicle and tracks the trip along from the inside circumference of the infield....Dubai does an amazing job of this - you can feel the hoofbeats and hear them practically breathing, plus it a great close up angle of the trip

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

Traditional saddlecloths....and a roof j/k

I'll add to the email and I'm not sure if it's budgetarily or logistically feasable, but I love the camera that's mounted to a vehicle and tracks the trip along from the inside circumference of the infield....Dubai does an amazing job of this - you can feel the hoofbeats and hear them practically breathing, plus it a great close up angle of the trip

You know, I love that too ... like being in the race! Even if they only used it during the replay.

[Unstable]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

I'll add to the email and I'm not sure if it's budgetarily or logistically feasable, but I love the camera that's mounted to a vehicle and tracks the trip along from the inside circumference of the infield....Dubai does an amazing job of this - you can feel the hoofbeats and hear them practically breathing, plus it a great close up angle of the trip

They could do this pretty easily at Santa Anita. The training track is situated in-between the main track and the turf course. They've got over 10 months to figure it out.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

huge fields, all stakes, 4 down the hill events over 2 days .. and priority seating for dt members!!!

[brockguy]

from an international point of view, they either make a spirited attempt to attract quality international runners or they get rid of the horrid "World Thoroughbred Championships" slogan.. Frankly, I thinks its patronising!! Other than that, its brilliant!!

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by Cardus

I didn't write that people had to memorize 12 silks for each race, each day.

While I know that it is much, much easier to see the orange saddlecloth on a horse closing hard down the stretch and know that the 7 is in the hunt, I don't think it's impossible to do what I wrote above. I know that when I key a horse and put a few behind him in a multi-horse wager, I know their silks a great extent of the time. On some TV feeds -- like at an OTB or restaurant -- it is easier to distinguish jockey silks than saddlecloths for the 1, 7, and 8, e.g.

It was impossible to see the slop covered silks of any horse other than the front runners at Monmouth. Maybe it was easier to see on TV, but at the track live, I couldn't pick out a horse by the silks until they passed me and I could look at their backs. Colored saddlecloths would've helped greatly.

[my miss storm cat]

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to bring this up or not and can't remember all the details of why it took so long for the 2nd ambulance to reach Fleet Indian last year (Churchill employees following some regulations?) but i hope that never happens again.....

Ambulance availability..... just wanted to mention that.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Cardus

I understand the saddlecloth issue to an extent, but for me, its way overplayed.

Can't people follow jockey silks to recognize their horse(s), and of the major contenders in a race?

Usually, it's not difficult.

I totally see why people don't like the uniform saddlecloths and don't want to learn the horse's silks.

I used to gripe about the same thing years ago -- but have now found that I have no problem following the race based on the silks, generally by that time you've seen the contenders' silks plenty of times and can pick most horses out in their respective races.

It's not a problem for me anymore, but if it helps other people, I'm all for it.