Paul Siegel said...

The Meadowlands Web site has the list of eligibles for the Pace, and every other stakes race scheduled there, updates the lists regularly (after stakes sustaining payments are due), and has maintained such information every year for as many years as I can remember.

The only beef might be that it isn't obvious where the stakes eligible lists are, unless you're familiar with their site. FYI, you can find it at http://thebigm.com/stakesnom.asp, and all you have to do is click on the name of the race you're interested in.

posted at 10:23 PM on May 13th 2008

Pull the Pocket said...

It is certainly not the end of the world Paul, and I see your point. But my point is pretty simple as well - keep websites about million dollar races updated, even just once, when the date is announced even. It would take the Meadowlands publicity department a half hour to pop something up.

The benefits are not huge, but it does give some credibility to the event and our sport. Being in marketing as a profession I can tell ya - nothing more makes a person think that something is dead than a website that is updated with something that happened 11 months ago.

Since it is such a small thing, and so easy to do I do not know why we overlook it. As Andrew said, a date and a list of eligibles is all that is needed, really.

PS: I get hits on my website where I can see searches. I have got hits for Meadowlands Pace search strings this year already. There are people out there searching for event info right now as we speak.

posted at 3:32 PM on May 13th 2008

Paul Siegel said...

OK...I'm going to continue to be a contrarian.

In my opinion there really hasn't been much to write about until the past week or so. If cut through what WEG has put out, there hasn't been a lot more than the Somebeachsomewhere hype, so much so that Dali's connection took umbrage at their horse being ignored. Frankly, the SBSW stuff carries much less interest in the US than it does in Canada.

Let's look at Meadowlands Pace eligibles. Through the April 15 sustaining payment, 58 colts remain eligible. When the May 15 payments are tabulated, that number will drop...perhaps 50 or fewer horses will remain.

Of the 58 current eligibles, 26, nearly half, have not made a purse start yet this year. Many of those who have started will have to step up their performance significantly if they intend to compete in the Pace, so not a lot to write about there.

Let's give WEG credit for establishing a reasonable top ten contenders list for the NA Cup, and use that list as starting point for identifying the leading Pace contenders. One of the NA Cup top 10 horses, #8, Keystone Horatio, is not Pace eligible, so let's bring in Share The Delight off the AE list to fill that spot.

Of the top 10 NA Cup/Meadowlands pace eligibles, 8 have only raced in qualifiers. SBSW, Santanna Blue Chip, Dali, Deuce Seelster, On The Brink, and Share The Delight all quailfied well. Two qualifying horses, Duneside Perch and Moon Beam put in efforts that have to concern their connections. Moon Beam is entered in another quallie today at Chester, but as of this moment the results have not been posted.

So, only two of the top 10 contenders have actually raced for money to date. Idle Hour, finished an OK 3rd in a PASS in his last, a beaten .30 to the dollar favorite. That leaves Sand Shooter, who was very impressive, winning in 1:51.1 in his first start of the year, a PASS.

Someone please tell me what opportunity for stories that anyone would actually pay attention to were missed.

posted at 1:41 PM on May 13th 2008

Pull the Pocket said...

I agree 100% Andrew. For the Kentucky Derby, websites are updated in the fall of the 2yo year. The Downey report starts tracking in the fall. The Louisville paper starts watching in February with a neat searchable database.

Those are independent sites, not even the industry ones.

A web page, as you prove with your blog, is easy to get up quickly, and if you are setting up one page it can be done in a snap. As soon as a date is set and eligibles are made public each site should be updated, imo.

Greg Blanchard and crew have done excellent work with their site, and should be commended. I hope we follow suit in other races this year. It's not rocket science.

posted at 10:41 AM on May 13th 2008

Mark A said...

This isn't anything new.....the tracks' marketing departments have had difficulty for years in trying to formulate interest in their product.

Stan Bergstein had written an article a few years ago on how not many news people would get overly excited about such and such a horse training in a certain time...or even racing for that matter. He mentioned that the human side of the story is what attracts the most attention. He listed the priest that jogged his own horses and a few other examples of what would most likely attract the attention of the newsrooms. I think he's on to something. In my limited time on the backstretch and as an owner I've met some very colorful characters (both human and equine) who would be newsworthy and make for some great stories and bylines.

Maybe it's time that harness tracks, horseman's associations, the USTA and Hambletonian Society fund a true marketing / PR department with diverse regional marketing campaigns for these big events and explore new ways to market the sport to a new fan base.

posted at 10:02 PM on May 12th 2008

Paul Siegel said...

Andrew, I think we discussed this not long ago when your column was still appearing here.

The NA Cup final is June 14. The NA Cup "mini site" was launched about May 7...38 days before the race.

The Meadowlands Pace is July 19. if you think about 38 days before the race is a good time to start putting the PR machine into high gear, then sometime around June 10 would be a good lauch date for the Meadowlands to get moving. Just coincidentally, that would be in the week between the NA Cup eliminations and the final, which makes a heck of a lot of sense.

From Andrew: We did discuss it but I disagree (respectfully, of course). Even before the new launch of the NA Cup website there was a tremendous effort on the part of WEG and SC to publicize Cup eligible horses. None of that is happening from the Big M.

posted at 3:00 PM on May 12th 2008

Allan Schott said...

I give the people involved with LBJ website a pass. If you look at the bottom there are some articles about this year's jug (admittingly from March), but remember this site is run by The Delaware County Agricultural Society; not exactly a large corporation.

That being said, there is no excuse for the the Meadowlands Pace site when compared to the North American Cup site.

From Andrew: Good point on the LBJ site, Allan. I still think though it should be updated based upon the 2008 eligibles.

posted at 1:46 PM on May 12th 2008