Greed Unlimited

[DuncanPatch]

What is the matter with Churchill Downs Inc.? I was able to watch the thrilling 2000 Guineas from Newmarket, UK, on Saturday but no one in the UK was able to watch the Kentucky Derby, because CD wanted so much money. (Read this in the Racing Post this morning.) You'd think they would want world-wide interest for horse racing and the Derby in particular.

I've been to 2 Breeders' Cups at CD and both times paid a ridiculous amount of money for concrete bunker bench seats where I saw absolutely nothing, was treated like a criminal (AFTER admission), put up with poor tellers, bad lighting, expensive bad food, and an ATM failure.

I won't go to CD again. I just want to know why that venerable institution and home of America's greatest race is so determined to drive away fans around the world. (Bad enough we put up with doping, bad training methods, counterproductive gate loading tactics and minimal TV coverage.)

I love the sport, have followed avidly for nearly 60 years, love the horses. But Orb, who turned in a marvelous performance for an honest trainer with a great rider, was not visible in the country that began the breed. He deserved much better, as did we fans, here and abroad. It was a smal-minded greedy decision by CDI to disallow broadcast of the live race In the UK. Coming on the 40th anniversary of Secretariat's triumph, it was dishonorable as well.

[bdw0617]

Great post


I'm not a fan of CDI. They aren't stronach bad but I'm not a fan.

They do a few things right, ilke downs after dark, running the breeders cup races at night or later in the evening, but I am still not a fan.

I don't believe in large company horse track ownership. the best ran tracks are the single owned tracks imho, Oaklawn, Tampa Bay Downs, Keeneland, Emerald Downs, and Del Mar are 5 of the best ran tracks in the country, discounting level of racing or anything else and every last one of them are owned by one owner or a non company. They can react and change things on a much faster level.

[madelyn]

Keeneland... is not a single owner track/entity - Keeneland is operated by Keeneland Association, Inc - it part-owns Turfway Pk and is the "dealer" for the Polytrack material in the US. It is involved in developing a QH racetrack in KY.

[bdw0617]

Keeneland... is not a single owner track/entity - Keeneland is operated by Keeneland Association, Inc - it part-owns Turfway Pk and is the "dealer" for the Polytrack material in the US. It is involved in developing a QH racetrack in KY.

That's still a long way from owning 5 race tracks and being a publicly traded company

you are correct but I think you understand the point I was trying to make. I don't believe race tracks should be part of publicly held companies.