Paul H. Rothfuss - April, 2010.  Churchill Downs has chosen to “…revert back to our traditional pill pull…” to determine the post positions for the 2010 Derby.  The decision was made because ‘ESPN decided not to broadcast the draw.’

For the last twelve years “the draw” has determined the order in which trainers got to select post positions for their horses, a method that produced excitement and plenty of room for second guessing from the fans (think: NFL Draft), elements that our sport desperately needs more of.

To me, it’s just one more indication that Thoroughbred racing ‘just doesn’t get it.’  Decisions like this are directly  contributing to the diminution, and perhaps the slow death of our sport.

A ‘pill pull’ in no way compares to watching the angst of owners and trainers as they attempt to decide which post best advantages the running style of their particular horse.  Or watching “…that poor s. o. b. as he ‘gets stuck’ with Number 20.”  (In 2008 that s.o.b. was Big Brown.  Recall, it produced lots of pre-race speculation, but it didn’t seem to bother Big Brown!)

Yes, ‘twould have been great for ESPN to continue broadcasting the event, but their decision should have had no bearing on whether or not the event was broadcast.  Couldn’t Churchill Downs and the ‘captains’ of racing team up to provide this bit of fun and excitement to racing fans by purchasing an hour of time on another of the 250 cable channels?  Inexpensive enough, I’d bet, and one hour of time would provide plenty of time for a lively, fast-moving broadcast, one that would probably have trumped the ‘snoozers’ that ESPN had been producing.

The Derby is the highest profile event on our Thoroughbred Racing Calendar - in any given year, producing the most elevated level of excitement that our sport experiences.  More exposure is available and more easily gotten during Derby Time.   Racing needs to sense these things – and go for it!

Last fall, our sport deftly avoided the years’ best opportunity for exposure to new fans by deciding to allow Rachel Alexandra’s victory in the Woodward to go off, sans national television.   How can this happen?  Can you imagine the marketers of the NFL allowing an opportunity like that to slip thru their fingers? 

Indy Car racing has Danica Patrick. Thoroughbred racing has Chantal Sutherland.  I can see this stuff, and so can you.  But racing? 

Really?   A ‘pill pull?’   I can hardly contain myself.