- The track was sealed and sloppy at Churchill today, but it's supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow straight through for the big day, according to weather.com.
Despite the forecast, I have to say that I'm rather shocked that they ran two races on a turf course labeled 'yielding' today They would never do that here in NY on Breeders Cup week; they'd go off-the-turf if the jockeys were sweating too much.
- On The Works, Lava Man galloped on the turf today rather than brave the sloppy track. David Junior wasn't sweaty. CP West got a bad review for his gallop; Tom Amoss noted that the horse had a quick work the other day - five furlongs in 1:00.29 with a full gallop out around the turn - and implied that it took something out of him. The boys were liking Too Much Bling.
- ESPN will crank up their promotional efforts tomorrow night during the college football game in Louisville during which they'll be live shots from Churchill Downs. I wonder if somebody, somewhere, actually had the foresight to schedule the game there this week. Or if it's just a coincidence. I'll assume it was the former.
Greg Avioli told Ruben Bailey that he gives ESPN an 'A' for their marketing efforts. I do really want to believe that, and I'll check out the college game tomorrow as long as Suzy Kolber isn't there.
ESPN will add some new graphics, including the virtual yard markers on the track that we see used in Europe, where the coverage is miles above what we have here. Perhaps someone there has watched some of the European coverage, and if so, we'll be better off for sure.
Trevor Denman should be a great addition for fans and newcomers alike. Denman has managed to stay fresh for two decades now, and I can't think of any other announcer I could ever say that about; even for half that time in many cases. When Durkin first started on NBC, his race calls were one of the specific reasons that I'd be excited for the day. Though I still think he's a top announcer, I can't say that's been the case the last few years. But Denman is definitely an extra reason to watch.
RSS Feed for this Blog
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Fair Skies Coming
Posted by Alan Mann at 8:20 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 Comment:
When he first got TVG, my wagering buddy fell in love with the every horse they hyped. The honeymoon lasted about two months once he figured out they were always oohs and aahs over the Cali horses and dissed all the easterners. Until they end the provincialism (ei. no telecast of Belmont works) there is no point taking anything said on that channel seriously. At his stage of the game works are meaningless escept to see how a horse is handling the tricky CD surface, and even that becomes meaningless since barely anyone is actually on site early enough to make a judgement.
Post a Comment