BC: "Oh by the way... race order changing"

[Kasept]

From the \"Can you keep a secret?\" Department...

Did anyone hear before today, that BC officials will be announcing a new race order for Cup Day tomorrow?

How did this manage to wait until now for revelation?

[HP]

\"Breeders\' Cup officials have an interesting decision to make regarding the scheduling of the $1 million Sprint and the star animal of the day, the undefeated Lost in the Fog. If Breeders\' Cup officials opt to leave the Sprint out of the pick six - which will have a guaranteed pool of $3 million - then it will be run during the first hour of NBC\'s 4 1/2-hour telecast. NBC officials would most likely want the Sprint positioned later on the card in order to keep viewer interest. The Sprint has never been run later than the fourth Cup race of the day.\"

[Michael D.]

Ka,
I think I heard this a while ago. What\'s the scandal?

[Kasept]

None Mike.. I just have gotten plenty used to the flow of the day and had already begun to formulate some multi-race \'concepts\' based on who I already expect to run. Can\'t blame them for wanting to maximize the \'Pick\' pools, but this took me by surprise.

[RICH]

I LIKE THIS

distaff
juv
f/m turf
juv
mile turf
sprint
turf classic
classic

[Michael D.]

Think they are just trying to maximize profits. Race order will affect handle to some degree. I don\'t know how the fields are shaping up, but if they get a weak race, they will probably move it up front, out of the bigger late exotic pools. And as HP noted, TV audience is a factor as well.

[kev]

The sprint use to be the 1st race of the BC races, I don\'t know what year this was changed.

[richiebee]

Kev:

   My memory is that the Sprint was moved to the first race of the BC Card the year after a Mark Reid trained horse (Mr. President?) fell, broke his neck, and eventually had to be euthanized.

  The thinking at the time was that the Sprint always attracted the largest fields (don\'t know if this is true anymore) and was the most roughly run of all the races (kind of a general statement). If this was their thinking, maybe the idea was to run the race during a time in the day before TV viewership reached a peak.

[STB]

Since TV is the tail that wags the dog when it comes to sports, expect the Sprint to be run whenever NBC wants it to be run. Guessing the Peacock sees the Lost in the Fog as one of the high-interest stories of the day, and one they\'ll want to \"save\" for near the end of the telecast, so expecting the Sprint to be run late in the card.  

[jimbo66]

Richiebee,

I think it might have been Mr. Nickerson, not Mr. President.  I know Mr. Nickerson died in the race at Belmont around 1990.  Don\'t know of a Mr. President.

[richiebee]

Right you are, Jimbo.

I think MRS President was a 5K claimer that Mark Reid had about 20 years ago.
Easy to see how I confused them, no?

[STB]

I believe there was another fatality in the race, Shaker Knit or Shaker Ridge. An ugly day...

[jimbo66]

It was Shaker Knit.  

That was the same day that Go For Wand died as well, after finally passing Bayakoa after a race long battle.  

It was a very strange and sad BC day.  I remember having two winners, Bayakoa (who shouldn\'t have won) and Safely Kept (who also shouldn\'t have won).  After setting a quick pace, Safely kept was collared in deep stretch by Dayjur and Dayjur poked a head in front and appeared to be on his way to win, but then he jumped either a tire track or a shadow or something, which allowed Safely Kept to just get her nose down first, because of the lost momentum of Dayjur.

[richiebee]

Right again, Jimbo.

I had a decent size wager on Dayjur, the Euro sprint champion, who was trying dirt for the first time.

Some friends and I went to Yonkers Raceway for the simo (this was before online wagering). That was my first and last visit to that wonderful facility.

I have never been to a live BC. I may go this year. The day has not been heavily promoted by NYRA (advertising funds tapped out?), and there is not really a charismatic presence to attract the casual racing fan, who may never have heard of LITF or St. Liam, and Bel may not be so crowded.

The only story compelling enough to attract casual fan interest would have been if Afleet Alex could have made it back, which was always an unlikely scenario to me. He would have gone to the Detention Barn directly from the hyperbaric chamber.

[Kasept]

Mr. Nickerson is one of my favorite horses ever.. And I\'ve gotten to know Mark Reid in the last few years, which I really consider a privledge.

As some may know, he\'s had a horrible time the last year+ since the drowning accident death of his son. He\'s been very involved with every aspect of Saint Liam\'s career, and he\'ll be one I\'ll \"root\" for next Saturday.

Here\'s a recollection of that brutal day in 1990 which I wrote for my Derby Trail site in 2003.

MINOR PHILY PARK STAKE EVOKES MEMORIES
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DerbyTrail/message/162