I read a blog this afternoon at
GreenButGame.org in which the host took us to task for not doing more to promote reigning Horse of the Year Curlin's next start Saturday in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. First of all, Dana is right in that we probably should have done more to promote the race. Like others fans, we might be hampered by the post Triple Crown blues after a five week stretch that proved to be a very busy and emotional period for the staff at the NTRA.
We were hampered by other factors as well in the coverage of Curlin. Unfortunately, up until entry time of Wednesday, the Curlin team was sending conflicting messages about whether or not Curlin would actually be entered in the race and even then they continued to hedge.
The prospect of garnering national television for Saturday's race is even more problematic. ESPN/ESPN2 schedules its telecasts months and in some cases years in advance. We are looking into coverage on ESPNews (now in some 60 million homes) and we’re hopeful that ESPN and others will cover the Stephen Foster as the news story it is.
Despite these hurdles, we are in total agreement that our sport needs to do all it can do to promote its stars. And aside from Big Brown there is no bigger star than Curlin as he seeks to surpass the legendary Cigar in career earnings. Saturday afternoon, like many fans, I'll be seeking out a way to watch Curlin as he moves one step closer to history.
Dana also had a link to a blog about next week's hearings in Washington, D.C. I'll be writing about my testimony and thoughts on what promises to be a media frenzy in the next couple of days.