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COMMENTARY OCTOBER 6, 2005 Focus is on the Breeders' Cup as Keeneland opens Fall Meet by Steve Moody The Breeders' Cup will be the central focus as Keeneland opens its fall meet on Friday, and the 17-day stand runs through Breeders' Cup Day, October 29. With Championship Day just over three weeks away, the meet is front-loaded as usual with eight stakes (seven graded) being offered in the first three days of the meet. This year's Fall Meet will distribute $10,533,000 in total purses -- one of the richest in North America -- and once again promises to serve as a springboard for the Breeders' Cup and beckon some of the sport's best horses and horsemen. "At Keeneland, we strive to conduct racing at its highest level," said Rogers Beasley, Keeneland's director of racing. "Our fall meet is expected once again to bring in the top horses and horsemen from around the world." The meeting begins with FallStars Weekend, three days of extraordinary racing highlighted by eight stakes races -- three of which are Grade 1 events. Opening day features the $400,000 Alcibiades (G2) and the $150,000 Sycamore Breeders' Cup (G3). Saturday is the richest day of the meet, anchored by the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1), along with the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) and the $250,000 Phoenix Breeders' Cup (G3). Sunday offers another three stakes - the $500,000 Spinster (G1), $400,000 Galaxy WinStar (G2), and $100,000 Woodford. Other graded stakes scheduled: October 14 -- $200,000 Perryville S. (G3), three-year-olds, Beard Course (seven furlongs, 184 ft) October 15 -- $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1), three-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles (turf) October 16 -- $300,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G3), three-year-olds and upward, fillies and mares, six furlongs. October 21 -- $125,000 Valley View (G3), three-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles (turf). October 22 -- $300,000 Raven Run (G2), three-year-old fillies, seven furlongs October 28 -- $150,000 Fayette S. (G3), three-year-olds and upward, 1 1/8 miles Afleet Alex a 'definite maybe' for the Perryville on October 14 Trainer Tim Ritchey, who will likely be represented by a runner in Saturday’s Breeders’ Futurity, is still leaving open the possibility of bringing back dual classic winner AFLEET ALEX to the races at Keeneland. Ritchey indicated that his stable star, winner of the Preakness (G1) and Belmont S. (G1), is still considered a definite maybe for the $200,000 Perryville (G3) to be run at Keeneland on October 14. "I have five or six options, but the distance of the Perryville is perfect and the timing is right on," Ritchey said. "We'll see how he works after the break on Friday and then decide." Keeneland to have Jockey Art print giveaways on Thursdays Keeneland is launching a new series of art prints inspired by the classic and highly collectible Vanity Fair/Spy series produced in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The Keeneland Collector Series-Jockey Edition will feature six successful jockeys who have ridden into the Keeneland record books. Every Thursday of the 2005 Fall and 2006 Spring meets, Keeneland will introduce a new print in the series free to the first 5,000 paid admissions. The first print in the series will feature Keeneland's all-time leading rider Pat Day and will be distributed on Thursday, October 13 -- his 52nd birthday -- as part of the track's "A Day to Remember" celebrating his amazing career. On this occasion, Day will be available for a limited period of time to autograph the print featuring his image. Jerry Bailey will be featured on October 20 and Edgar Prado on October 27. Robby Albarado, Mike Smith, and Craig Perret get the call for next spring. Saturday's NTRA Pick 4 features two Keeneland stakes An all Grade 1 Pick 4 will be featured at Keeneland on Saturday in cooperation with Belmont Park and the NTRA. The $1 wager, with a $400,000 guaranteed pool, commences with Belmont's $500,000 Frizette (G1) for two-year-old fillies at one mile with post time scheduled for 4:45 p.m. (ET). The second leg of the sequence will be Keeneland's $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) for two-year-olds at a mile and one-sixteenth. Belmont's $500,000 Champagne (G1) for two-year-olds at one mile will be the third leg, with Keeneland's $600,000 Turf Mile (G1), the final leg of the wager. 'New' network still out of their element When the heavy heads at NTRA/Breeders' Cup gave the bum's rush to NBC earlier this year in favor of ESPN, it was ostensibly because the boys in Bristol, Connecticut, convinced the suits in Lexington that they were the "now" network and could deliver the hip, trendy, younger demographic to watch racing on television. While ESPN does attract a younger audience as a major cable player, the major broadcast networks dwarf its total audience on a night-by-night basis. Given that, you have to wonder what sort of voodoo mathematics the NTRA was using when they decided they could make gains in the younger demographic while watching its total audience numbers fall by half or two-thirds. While most of the on-air talent employed by Winner Communications to do racing for ESPN and ESPN2 are competent, it hasn't spread to the talking heads that do Sportscenter for ESPN and its various spin-off networks. Exhibit A came Saturday when Lost in the Fog (Lost Soldier) raced in the Bay Meadows Speed H. The race was being covered by ESPNews and when the talking heads broke away from college football and baseball scores to announce they were going to live coverage of the race, they mentioned that Lost in the Fog was undefeated and was being pointed for the Breeders Crown later in the month. They also made mention that ESPN would be covering the series next year. Of course, as most racing fans know, no matter what demographic they’re in, the Breeders' Crown is a Championship series for Standardbred racing while Thoroughbred racing's Championship Day has been known as the Breeders' Cup. Oh well, maybe next year when the series moves to cable television, the only viewers that ESPN will have to reeducate are the swarms of the younger demographic that will surely flock to their sets. Maybe by then, ESPN can educate the guys on Sportscenter too, but I wouldn't bet on it.
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