Promotion of Racing

     The focus this week in most of the newspaper articles concerning the Belmont Stakes has been on Calvin Borel and his quest to be the first rider to win the Triple Crown on different horses. What a natural feel good story. This emphasizes what horse racing needs to concentrate on to build up racing to build up popularity again. Jockeys are the one thing that slots and casino gambling cannot compete with. Pictures and information about jockeys should be disseminated daily in as many formats as possible. And in the best possible sense, aren't jockeys really not much bigger than young people? So wouldn't they be able to identify with them? 

     What if every kindergarten kid had a horse racing coloring book featuring all of the jockeys on famous horses? If kids grew up with racing, then racing stands a better chance of keeping them as fans when they become adults. And adult fans pass their likes onto younger generations. 

     What if horse racing was used to teach math in schools? If a horse runs a quarter mile in 24 seconds, what is his fps and what does that convert to in mph? 

     Most newspapers no longer carry handicapping selections. What is stopping racetracks from buying ads in newspapers listing the handicapping selections? In New York, what is stopping OTB's from doing the same thing, especially since most money in New York is bet at the local OTB rather than at the track. What is stopping the breeders from advertising the top ten sires in their own state or the horse racing industry advertising the top ten jockeys at each track?

I think that the industry is not trying hard enough and is in danger of becoming part of the gimme world. "Lets not promote ourselves and lets get help from other forms of gambling."