(CHICAGO, IL – June 14, 2010) In a time of Tea Party ascendancy, one should be pleased with the word “moron” as an insult after writing something that somebody else disagrees with. That’s about the worst that you get for calling a Louisville a Louisville.

After the point was made in a brief, five-paragraph blog item on Friday that the Breeders’ Cup erred in awarding Churchill Downs back-to-back stabs at hosting its championship event, the horse country wing of horse racing nation came alive to launch a defense of the Derby City that made Tunney Hunsaker’s pummeling by Cassius Clay in old Freedom Hall look like offense.

Churchill Downs is indeed an accomplished operator, a fitting place for the Breeders’ Cup program. Louisville’s okay as a tourist destination. But that’s all it is - okay. It’s not someplace you would choose if your goal was to promote the Sport of Kings to curiosity seekers outside the sport’s hardcore constituency. Furthermore, the selection was made because Oak Tree at Santa Anita is awaiting Frank Stronach’s California master plan on June 22 without a contract to operate and Belmont Park has no money other than that which it borrows. Neither of these choices was tenable.

The Breeders’ Cup championships lack a sense of celebration. A shortage of atmosphere has kept the event back from gaining extravaganza status. In recent years, the organizers have tried to introduce fun into a supporting role to the main attraction. But, now, organizers seem convinced that by anchoring the event at one site they can develop its identity in a broader, more popular manner.

The bean counters note that financial benefits accrue when the championship races remain at the same racecourse in consecutive years. Like good corporate practitioners that hire mercenary consultants to tell them that which they want to hear, the Breeders’ Cup people have a strong recommendation from William Field - an expert in suck-up - that a permanent location serves the interests of developing identity Yet, the majority of fans, the horseplayers and the media disagree with these findings.

As horse racing is pulling back, the National Football League is expanding by considering a plan that would move its annual draft away from Radio City Music Hall to theaters in cities other than New York. Even the National Hockey League believes moving its Winter Classic from one city to another provides enormous benefits in developing its fan base.

Now holster your pistols for a minute as a few things are put into perspective. There is nothing wrong with Churchill Downs, nothing lacking in Louisville. These venues serve adequately when they’re the sites for a party that’s a “must” on the social calendar. But, in 26 years, since the Breeders’ Cup began, not many people have gone to horse racing’s end-of-year festivities and concluded, “We had such a good time, I’m exhausted” - unless hunkering down in your hotel room with a Racing Form is fatiguing.

In the public realm, the Breeders’ Cup championship races have never caught up with its springtime equivalent. That was the goal of the Breeders’ Cup founders – to find new customers where they didn’t exist. Without razzmatazz, the Breeders’ Cup appeals solely to horse racing people and gamblers. Stated plainly, the Kentucky Derby causes Louisville to come alive, not the opposite.

Most sporting events that have reached beyond their fan base play the game outside the lines of competition. Just a glance at the World Cup Soccer coverage provided by ABC and ESPN, the same providers of Belmont Stakes drivel, reveals that what you have to work with determines the effect you create. From lessons about apartheid to vuvuzelas, the network telecasts have described the country of South Africa like a travel agent would. People become engaged in the biathlon and Greco-Roman wrestling, for goodness sake, because the Olympics are more than the Olympic Games.

At this point in horse racing’s history, decisions like venue shouldn’t be about operating efficiently but about managing assets. Of course, the sport should make money at each opportunity to satisfy the need of its base to produce products that are consumable. But considering that horse racing’s base is decreasing, prudent economic behavior shouldn’t be the priority.

The danger of having the Breeders’ Cup in Kentucky repeatedly or always is that a routine like this levels horse racing with the weighty impression that it hasn’t spread forth from its roots. Having the Breeders’ Cup visit different cities from year to year promotes the thought that the sport is both viable and popular everywhere. Quite honestly, it matters little to the presentation of the races on which track they’re held – a horse is a horse is a horse to most people. What does matter is that the spectacle isn’t of regional interest, but national.

It’s sad that Gulfstream Park no longer exists in a form that will meet the event’s criteria. Some of the best Breeders’ Cups were held in South Florida where there was plenty to do once the visiting horseplayers left the building. Arlington Park’s only Breeders’ Cup was the coldest on record, so that leaves a bona fide tourist town out. “Aboot” perfect in every sense, Woodbine could be having snow just as easily as the 22 degree celsius it enjoyed when Alphabet Soup won his Classic.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t long ago that the Breeders’s Cup CEO, Greg Avioli, toyed around with a selection of 10 different racetracks that could form a rotation. Here’s hoping that two straight years of Churchill Downs – a venue that’s certain to produce a glittering financial result – won’t cause people to take the short view on building the product.

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