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cup fever starts here, claim racing post, doesn’t have any interest imo to the majority of betting public,
years in the game, I have never noticed any betting interest or massive turnover from general public, take more bets on strictly dancing and x factor in betting shops.
It might not be a massive generator of betting turnover Barry, but it is of extreme interest to genuine racing fans, punting or non-punting.
It will be fascinating to see how the Europeans get on this year, and nobody could say that the BC performances of Arazi, Miesque, Ouija Board (the list could go on) haven’t captured the racing public’s imagination long-term.
I am very much looking forward to it (and will be having a bet too).
cup fever starts here, claim racing post, doesn’t have any interest imo to the majority of betting public,
years in the game, I have never noticed any betting interest or massive turnover from general public, take more bets on strictly dancing and x factor in betting shops.
Tend to agree Barry. Bar the Classic, the Breeders Cup looks pretty bland this year. Expect a lot of hyperbole though over the next week as the Post journalists desperately try to justify their expense bills!
The truth is American / Dubai racing holds no interest to the general public and I doubt they ever will. There are exceptions but racing enthusiasts in the main are interested in British and European turf racing and thats about it.
The Breeders Cup is worth a watch and a passing interest but for me nothing more than that.
I thought the switch of surface would rouse more interest from our trainers this year but sadly not the case. Very little strength in depth over the meeting as a whole, but it will be essential viewing all the same.
I think the drugs issue puts a lot of European owners and trainers off the Breeders Cup meeting. This is not an issue for the the Dubai carnival or the big meetings in the Far East, which will attain increasing status as time goes on. Coolmore sending Dylan Thomas to Japan last year is proof of that.
It sickens me that every year, European horses have to trek across the Atlantic to compete primarily on dirt for what the Americans consider the Olympics of Horse-racing.
It’s a mickey-mouse meeting serving only to pander to the American idea that dirt racing is superior to turf racing.
Then we hear the usual American bullshit about Horse XYZ being the greatest miler etc etc etc.
Let the yanks come over to Britain or Ireland or even Arc weekend every second year and lets see how they compete on turf without drugs.
With David Brady on this – I have no interest at all in the Breeders Cup and never have done.
Give me the chasing debuts of Pasco, The Tother One and Straw Bear at Exeter today over the Breeders Cup anytime!
This might just be a rare moment of optimism from me, but there is a chance that the switch to polytrack from dirt (as well as the turning tide against drugs in the States) could be the making of the Breeder’s Cup as a Ryder Cup of racing.
However, Barry’s point is valid. As it has been up until now, there has been little reason for European racing fans to get excited about the BC given it has perennially been very much an away fixture. Or, to phrase it differently, yet another self-congratulatory sporting event put on by The Greatest Country In The World.
It sickens me that every year, European horses have to trek across the Atlantic to compete primarily on dirt for what the Americans consider the Olympics of Horse-racing.
It’s a mickey-mouse meeting serving only to pander to the American idea that dirt racing is superior to turf racing.
Then we hear the usual American bullshit about Horse XYZ being the greatest miler etc etc etc.
Let the yanks come over to Britain or Ireland or even Arc weekend every second year and lets see how they compete on turf without drugs.
Yep the Americans always seem to have "the best horse in the world". Yeah right, in the US on their favoured surfaces. Bring them to Ascot / Newmarket / Longchamp to take on our best then we’ll see how incredible they are.
I wrote "dirt" more to symbolise artificial as opposed to actual "dirt"
I appreciate that Polytrack is a little more forgiving on horses but until the top racehorses on this side of the pond race more on Polytrack, it’s still a completely different surface to what the top races are run on in Europe.
It seems to me that interest on this side of the ‘pond’ has been on the wane since the early 90’s. I think that it is racing enthusiasts who are interested and that Barry’s assertions that the general public couldn’t care less is pretty much spot on.
Some of the European representation in the Far East is just as interesting as that of the BC and, bar Paul Haigh, tends to get overlooked, certainly relative to the coverage that The Breeders Cup gets.
I’ve always thought it (the BC) was an interesting meeting and, over the years, there have been many memorable moments. I think the development which has seen the Americans accept that they need an alternative racing surface to dirt will potentially make the European involvement in races like the Classic much more interesting.
As for journalists justifying expenses, I’d much rather read ten pages on the BC than ten pages on what was likely to win at Plumpton.
Not sure where the BC is going in future, but perhaps if there is a trend towards Polytrack surfaces in the States and at the same time we start to run more Group races on them, we might not be at quite such a disadvantage in the future.
I’m looking forward to it!
I just don’t like the fact it is now over 2 days….with a "marathon" race and a breeders cup sprint for fillies & mares, tuf and dirt horses – what a mess!
More greedy peeps derogating the quality of a high-class event
Zip
As has been stated elsewhere it is more of a meet for diehard racing fans than Joe Punter. I have the occasional small bet but I am very wary of the European challenge on the West Coast.
I like to see how the overseas contenders fare against the home runners – but a "world championship" – don’t make me laugh.
Forget the Breeders Cup and Sovereign series.
My proposal would be a true world championship run on a three yearly cycle, rotating between America / Canada , Europe and the Far East / Oz.
Races would be over the standard distances from 5f through to 2 miles with home venue deciding which surface is used.
In Europe – Ascot, York, The Curragh and Longchamp are four venues that spring immediately to mind.
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