- I have a new post up at the Breeders' Cup site here.
There, I wrote about Tale of Ekati, whose win in the Futurity I was quite impressed with, more so than the one in the Hopeful by Majestic Warrior which inspired Coolmore to purchase a half-interest from The Boss. Tale of Ekati got a 94 Beyer, as opposed to a 95 for Majestic Warrior. I know there was a stiff wind into which the horses were running on Saturday, and that Tale of Ekati was able to draft in behind horses, which must have helped. But I can't be but highly impressed with his closing fraction of 11.84, and the way he was virtually eased up before the wire by Eibar Coa. And recall that he got left at the gate as well. Majestic Warrior really benefited from the speed duel between Maimonides and Ready's Image. So if I had a zillion dollars, and pedigree and stud prospects aside, I personally would have bought a piece of Tale of Ekati instead.
- I got some feedback on the poor crowd at Belmont on Saturday, and the lack of marketing that preceded it. I don't at all disagree with those that feel that, despite all the competition here in the city, it would not be a wasted effort to have tried to advertise the day. Maybe if people knew about the buttons.... (Steve Crist reported on his Cristblog that NYRA had 12,000 prepared, which is pretty much what I thought the crowd would, or at least, should have been.) But I will say that racing is at a big disadvantage due to the lack of media coverage it gets. The sport gets zero....and I mean ZERO - coverage on the local TV newscasts (except for horrific spills); and relatively minimal coverage in the papers.....though it at least does get covered there (though not close to what it was in the past). That's a lot of free advertising that other sports get, and which ours doesn't; and that's tough to compete with.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Notes - Sept 18
Posted by Alan Mann at 4:31 PM
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4 Comments:
Completely agree with you on Tale of Ekati. He did indeed hop a bit at the start and was off slowly, but was rushed up a bit and quickly found himself 1 1/2 lengths off the lead. He then relaxed very nicely and dropped back a bit from the leaders. His ability to relax and rate makes him look awfully tough going longer. His run in the lane was even more impressive. Rarely do you see a 2YO with the professionalism to alter course, AND close on the rail inside of horses. He changed gears like an old pro, and was geared down at the wire. This will come in handy with what will certainly be a big field in the BC Futurity. Tons of professionalism and Tons of talent, a deady duo in a 2YO.
Interesting thing about TALE OF EKATI.
Last week monday a Perfect Soul colt sold at Keneland for only $775,000 almost 10 times the cost of any other Perfect Soul foal at the sale. It might have been because he looked great and was half to TALE OF EKATI (Tale of the Cat) out of Silence Beauty by Sunday Silence. Who was a Grade 2 placed colt. Well Saturday they got lucky. Tale of Ekati won the $250,000 Futurity S. (G2) at Belmont Park on Saturday. If the colt was only bought for resale as a two year old they probably made a good buy.
Strangely I had already taken note of this PS colt because the mare had the best breeding
of the few foals on sale from Sunday Silence's mares.
She is out of Maplejinsky a multiple GR1 winner who also foaled Sky Beauty a
champion mare.
Tom
Alan, I'm so glad to see you blogging at the official BC site about the detrimental effect that today's sparse campaigns are having on the sport. I've been a fan since I was seven years old, but in recent years my interest has dwindled to the point that most weekends I don't even know what stakes are being run, let alone try to watch them. (Of course, the new baby has something to do with that.) It's impossible for me to get excited about a horse I can only expect to see run a few times a year, and can only expect to see run against top competition in the classics and Breeders' Cup.
Jen R makes a very valid point... it's hard enough to keep life long racing fans engaged let alone get and keep new ones. In that respect, it's very hard to market the sport. I would also agree that the lack of coverage in mainstream sports and local news doesn't help. Although New York print news has ok coverage.
Take Tale of Ekati, a very exciting 2 year old colt... what are the chances that we'll see him race more than 10 times or beyond next year? In fairness, how do you market that? Building rivalries is a classic technique, but the real competition happens twice a year: triple crown & BC.
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