The last weekend in August was a big one for race fans across America. Those of us on the East Coast were treated to a fantastic day at Saratoga (despite the wrath of Irene), while Californians enjoyed a truly great performance from Acclamation and Patrick Valenzuela in the Grade I Pacific Classic.

Looking over the comments in last week’s blog, one of the things that stood out to me was that a lot of you would like to see more coverage of horseracing on national television. I’m right there with you, and have thought that NBC and Versus have been doing a banner job with their Summer at Saratoga series. Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch the Spa City action on NBC on Saturday as the races were preempted by hurricane coverage, but I did manage to catch everything on TVG and thought Saratoga sparkled. With the help of Twitter and Facebook, I was able to keep up with all of the excitement; in fact, one of the best moments of the evening came for me when I realized that Uncle Mo was trending on Twitter. (For those of you without Twitter accounts, that means that Uncle Mo was one of the ten most talked about topics on Twitter on Saturday afternoon for the whole of the United States. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it!)

The great news coming out of this first Summer in Saratoga telecast series from NBC/Versus is not only that the network will be broadcasting two days entitled Autumn at Keeneland this October, but they’ve already renewed their commitment for showing selected days of the 2012 Saratoga meet. So far I’ve found their coverage to be outstanding: between features on the equine athletes, the owners, trainers and jockeys and commentary from the on-air talent with the breathtaking backdrop of Saratoga, racing is enjoying a proverbial moment in the sun. And, besides, how great is it that a major network is out there letting people know that horse racing is a year ‘round sport with a familiar cast of characters? I can see a lot more people investing their time in this game when they know that they’ll be seeing Todd Pletcher or Bob Baffert almost every time they tune in to the network coverage. The broadcasts also give fans a chance to get to know up-and-coming personalities in racing, and will hopefully encourage new players and owners to get into the game. NBC and Versus, along with other channels covering racing, are helping people understand and appreciate one of America’s oldest and most exciting sports.

So what did you like about the NBC and Versus coverage of the summer at Saratoga? What would you like to see when they move to Keeneland this fall? And who besides me is excited to catch the Woodward this Saturday? It will be shown on Versus between 5-6 PM Eastern.

I’m hoping everyone had a safe, fun, and dry weekend, and happy handicapping to you all!