Next year's BC also at Santa Anita?

[BitPlayer]

From the LA Times:

Santa Anita could host Breeders\' Cup in 2009
The track will host the event this year and officials are confident about Thursday\'s announcement.

February 7, 2008

The site of the 2009 Breeders\' Cup will be announced today, and Santa Anita officials are confident their facility will get the nod. If that is the case, it would mean back-to-back Breeders\' Cups for the Arcadia facility during the fall Oak Tree meeting there.

\"I think we\'re the leading candidate,\" said Allen Gutterman, the track\'s vice president of marketing.

Sherwood \"Chilli\" Chillingworth, executive vice president and director of the Oak Tree Racing Assn., also expressed optimism in getting the bid.

\"This year, we\'ll host the first Breeders\' Cup to be run on a synthetic track,\" he said, \"and next year we\'d be the first to host back-to-back Breeders\' Cups.\"

This year\'s Breeders\' Cup is scheduled for Oct. 24-25.

That gives Santa Anita plenty of time to fix the problems it has been having with its new synthetic surface, or replace it.

Repair work is underway to repair the track\'s drainage problem that has contributed to eight racing days being lost during the winter meet that began Dec. 26.

The original plan was to have the job done in time to resume racing Friday, but a heavier-than-expected rain Sunday delayed the start of the project.

Santa Anita President Ron Charles said a decision on whether to begin racing Friday or wait until Saturday won\'t be made until today.

[fkach]

If this wasn\'t horse racing, I\'d assume this article came from The Onion, but I\'m going to assume it\'s serious and just ROTFLMAO.

[cubfan0316]

the onion, what a great magazine. classic

[richiebee]

It sounds wacky at first, but then you reflect and realize that 2 of the other
candidates to host the event are Gulfstream (altered by \"the visionary\" to the
extent that it can not accomodate a large live gate) and Belmont (hard to talk
about NY racing and any event in the future; NY racing may have no future).

Speaking of the BC, now that it is basically a 2 day event, has the NTRA or DRF
considered basing its signature handicapping event on the BC races?

[colt]

Richiebee,

Trying to tie-in the NTRA/DRF handicapping championship with the 2-day Breeders Cup is called – "thinking outside of the Box".  Racing administrators in this country never heard of that concept - "thinking outside of the Box".

[fkach]

>It sounds wacky at first, but then you reflect and realize that 2 of the other
candidates to host the event are Gulfstream (altered by \"the visionary\" to the
extent that it can not accomodate a large live gate) and Belmont (hard to talk
about NY racing and any event in the future; NY racing may have no future). <

I think perhaps this makes my point even more. ;-)

[Thehoarsehorseplayer]

Well, running both events the same weekend seems like a logistical nightmare to me, but there should be some tie-in  between the Breeder\'s Cup and the DRF/NTRA Handicapping Championship.

May I suggest a promotion where track patrons from across the country are randomly chosen to participate in a contest to be held during the Breeder\'s Cup with the winner receiving a berth to the DRF/NTRA showdown.

You find a sponsor, give patrons at all participating tracks entry forms every time they come to the track, and pick a winner from each track to go to the Breeder\'s Cup.  On Friday, all winners participate in the contest, but by Saturday only the top three are alive.  And before every race they make their choices as part of the television coverage and the whole country gets to watch a contest unfold; to identify with the contestants and root for a winner.

And someone to follow come January when the Championship takes place

[richiebee]

Colt:

While I am outside of the box, let me renew my yearly plea that a venue in
Europe, primarily England or Ireland, be made part of the BC rotation, so that
the Breeder\'s Cup would be run every fourth or so year in Europe, with all of
the events to be run on grass.

The time zone logistics are daunting, but the reward every fourth year would
be a challenging and fully subscribed wagering card. An entire card of runners
sans bute lasix and whatever.

On the years when the BC is held in a Eurovenue, one of the US tracks would be
able to host a year end championship for horses on whatever non- turf surface
is currently in use or hold a day of championships on dirt and some synthetic
surface. (It is only a matter of time before a major venue utilizes traditional
dirt and synth during the same meet; Aqueduct would be a great candidate for
this, with the beloved \"inner tube\" being replaced with the super safe \"Mattress
Track\" now being developed by Sealy).

[trackjohn]

It\'s true...BC will be held at Oak Tree/SA 2008 AND 2009

[richiebee]

Even Stevie Wonder can see what happens next... the right money finds the right people and BINGO soon you will be reading BC folks will decree all future BCs to be run on synthetic. Give the BC to Woodbine 2010 and Arlington 2011.

Have we seen the last traditional dirt BC races?

[Ron G.]

Have to think the probable nice weather a big factor in having at Santa Anita next two years.

[NoCarolinaTony]

You could even throw KEENELAND in the Mix at that point.

NC Tony

[marcus]

That makes a lot of sense -  even TP\'s a beautiful track . They could swing one over to KD to keep the Europeans interested and if they win a couple , maybe they\'ll breed them back around to some North American stock . What i like the very least about west coast tracks is never being able to find a Saturday morning line on Thursday night ...

[P-Dub]

Can we agree that all synthetics aren\'t alike??

To lump Cushion, Tapeta, amd Poly together is unfair.  The Hollywood CT played fairly to all styles, same as the Tapeta.  OTH Poly is a disaster, favoring late runners and severely penalizes front runners.

The SA surface problems can be fixed. Obviously it was poorly installed. How fair was the Monmouth slop???

[richiebee]

P-Dub:

I will agree that of all the synthetic surfaces installed the only real
problems have been at SA and Turfway. In most other venues you can generally
give a thumbs up to the synthetic experience.

I also think that dirt racing is still a major part of racing in the US and
the notion that all of the next 4 or 5 BCs could be run on synthetic is not a
rational or logical one.

My favorite Raider-- hometown hero #49, Mike Siani,backing up Freddie B and
Cliff Branch at wide receiver.