More from WEG on Elliott Fallout

May 3rd 2008

 4 comments
Good Saturday morning and Happy Derby Day. The Cohen Boys will be hosting a charity party surrounding the big race in Louisville and I will of course keep you posted on the results.
 
Last night, I asked Bruce Murray, vice president of racing at Woodbine, for a little more information about the Bill Elliott suspension. I asked him how the track is going to track the horses that have been suspended.
 
Here was his response: "Since the ORC's announcement of William Elliott's immediate suspension, the Commission has approved some transfers from his stable to other trainers. As with previous positive tests for EPO, WEG's position is that all horses that were trained by Elliott will be refused entry indefinitely. This position has been communicated to the owners in question and recipient trainers."
 
I have a follow-up email in to the Ontario Racing Commission and will keep you posted.
 
-Andrew   

Comments

tim mansfield said...

John-

Exactly my point-we should be targeting the casual, non-wagering fans as a way to broaden our base. A real focal point needs to be taken to take our product out to the public.

It may seem corny but the red carpet shots, interviewing celebrities, and the behind the scene stories shows that they are trying to differentiate verses previous telecasts with a new message.

Question-weren't we all casual observers or non-wagerers at some point in time as well?

posted at 3:36 PM on May 5th 2008

John Buonomo said...

To me the coverage is entirely too staged. I turned on NBC at 4:45, it took 20 minutes before I saw the odds for the entire field...that is ok for the casual fan who does not wager, but it is horse racing.

posted at 11:08 PM on May 4th 2008

tim mansfield said...

Great job by NBC on the Derby coverage yesterday. Have to hand it to our racing brethren for putting on a good show and marketing the sport to the average fan and public.

Too bad the filly had to be putdown...just as everyone had started to heal from Barbaro this happens. My thoughts go out to everyone connected to Eight Belles.

What can we do to spice up our signature event? Even though the red carpet coverage yesterday at times seemed staged, I'm sure the casual fan was impressed by the pomp and circumstance. How do we try to reach out to a new audience instead of the typical hardcore bettors and industry insiders? What do we have to lose?

posted at 12:22 PM on May 4th 2008

kevin wisniewski said...

Another top trainer is banned -a story so famous in many years weve heard stories of this in thour.and harness racing how sad it is-what has happened to the integrity and honestyof these sports-its appalling-I am looking to break into racing -preferably harness -I want to work hard to achieve success,,,,,,,,,,dosn't anyone believe in that anymore?- kevdephew

posted at 4:37 PM on May 3rd 2008

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