Today would have been a terrific time to feature four graded stakes from Aqueduct, Churchill Downs, and Hollywood Park; at the very least a Pick 3 from the east.
The absence of a central governing body has been my lament for some time. My melancholy for horse racing not being part of the sports scene is more on days like today, when most of the country is enjoying a post-Thanksgiving Day away from work.
This could be a wonderful day to showcase horse racing. It’s three weeks removed from the Breeders’ Cup. Casual fans that were picked up by watching ZENYATTA win the Breeders’ Cup Classic could follow some Cup runners returning to their home tracks. Instead college football, college basketball, and even professional hockey will be their live sporting choices when the G.2 Top Flight runs at 12:38 PST.
Couldn’t horse racing fit nicely with those options? I think, definitely!
Even if it’s not feasible to include the G.1 Citation H. in a pick 4 because of the time constraints, how about making it a National Pick 3 starting with the G.3 River City H. from Churchill Downs at around 12:29, Top Flight from Aqueduct at 12:38, and concluding with the G.1 Clark H.??? Instead of the Clark being race 11, move it up to race 10 and it would go off before 1:00. Move the post times up 15 minutes to fit the sequence into a 90 minute package…surprise! Horse racing is among the living in the sports calendar on a weekend that doesn’t have the Breeders’ Cup or Triple Crown names attached.
Offer the Pick 4 to die-hard racing fans like me and today could have been a win/win situation.
Any thoughts?
Enjoy the racing!
Friday, November 27, 2009
WHERE IS THE NATIONAL PICK 4?
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13 Comments:
I agree w/ you; a national pick 4 makes a lot of sense in terms of generating some mktg buzz & wagering $$ but I'm guessing the tracks didn't want it to cannibalize their self-contained P4.
The NTRA should've taken the lead on a Nat'l P4 as they've done before
Some quality racing action on ESPN, or the Deuce, may have been a welcome respite from football on Friday. As it turned out, the Clark Handicap was one of the best races over the year. What a shame it didn't get TV coverage outside of HRTV.
Just another missed opportunity.
Steve,
Thanks for checking in.
Obviously, I agree, opportunity missed. Are you connected enough to get something like this going?
Definitely agree! More options need to be made available. One of the other problems that seem to come up every year, is that the racing associations/insiders begin slacking off once the Triple Crown and Breeders Cup are over. They act like it’s break time until the “Triple Crown trail” is ushered in with the new year. This weekend was a fantastic post-Breeders’ Cup lineup of higher class horses, but I didn’t even know some of them were running until the day of. The Clark did get some good publicity, but many of the lesser known stakes that had runners like Sara Louise and Kodiak Kowboy running got left behind.
Great post as always!
Am,
I'm not all the well connected but I do know some people who will be at the AZ racing symposium next week. I'll put a bug in their ear to bring this issue up at the appropriate time. Maybe they can corner NTRA's mktg guys. A Nat'l P4 w/ the weekend's best races really should be a routine thing.
Railrunner,
Thanks for the kind words...just posting what I feel and from the sound of your response and Steve's, it's not just me.
Let's hope that there's something that comes of Steve's last comment.
'Til next time!
Steve,
Anything that you can do to try and bring this fantastic game back into the national spotlight would be greatly appreciated from this fan's perspective.
There's no reason that the whole country can't enjoy it as much as we do.
Good luck.
I'm into vertical exotics and since I pick my spots at different tracks, I try not to indulge in Pick 3's or Pick 4's. But I can see how a National Pick 4 can work with patience and persistence (with a 10% takeout or less).
As long as the marquee horses are featured from week to week this concept can snowball. But it has to be unique and not overdone.
That means it can't be linked with a National Pick 6 or have 22% takeout. It must be a good draw for several reasons.
When I first started out on AOL we used to handicap on Friday evenings the National Best Seven. That was one of the first serial wagers created by NTRA's Jeff Parrot and his co-horts. It floundered, simply because it was too much too soon.
A National Pick 4 in today's market is workable with the proper coordination of stakes from around the country.
TKS,
I am confused. I thought that dd, pic3, etc. was vertical play. Are you telling me that those are horizontal and exactas are vertical?
I must learn the lingo.
T_K_S,
Such a wager could be combined with a national telecast...four races in one hour. That's the bait.
The hook will be the mention of the National Pick 4 wager connecting the four biggest stakes races of the day (Saturday)...those sports bettors who "tease" football or basketball games to enhance their prices could be enticed to jump into the pool.
For $30, there are many ways to hook up horses in the sequence. Put Steven Crist on to explain how to maximize opinions on a limited budget, and many new fans and horseplayers are born.
What's not to like?
Now, are you connected a little in the game like Steve Munday is? If you can get to talking to your people, he talks to his people, then those people talk to more people, maybe this thing flies.
I must really be dizzy this week.
Hasn't this already been done?
Gib,
Thanks for checking in.
I'm wanting it to come back, not suggesting a new wager!
Ideally it would be a weekly show, a one hour program on Saturdays, fitting all races in on the telecast.
I love the idea, but i remember why i had a problem with it when it was originally offered:
There is no easy way to include the West coast, except during the winter months. Even then, it is not a great fit. The post times are not compatible during most of the year, especially during the summer months. Plus, any west coast track would have to seriously harm their own late pick four to fit into a national pick four.
I would not have a problem having a national pick four that did not include a West Coast track however. (Belmont + Churchill) stakes pick fours scream value.
As bettors, is that not what we want?
hiya Gib -
I have always referred to it like this because of the way the horses numbers are posted vertically on the toteboard:
vertical exotics
Trifecta 1 with 234 with 234
1
234
234
horizontal (or serials) exotics
Pick 3 1 with 234 with 234
1 / 234 / 234
I hope that makes sense linguistically. :-)
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