Even though I write for the industry, my skills as a horse racing bettor are notoriously bad. I have placed one bet. Which didn’t go so well.
But I still had a sinking feeling as I watched the coverage of the Breeders’ Cup Classic this year, and it certainly wasn’t because I had some kind of inkling that a lot of people were about to buy into a lot of hype. It was because I dreaded what might follow if the hype didn’t deliver.
…Is it the pink stripe? Via
Which, as we now know, it didn’t. The great mare Zenyatta, trying to finish her career 20-0 before a well- deserved retirement, had one more race to run.
She finished second, but not before an onslaught of publicity from Breeders’ Cup broadcaster ESPN, which managed to cram her into nearly aspect of the coverage. The expectations built. And so did the pressure. Running against a tough field in the Breeders’ Cup Classic which included male horses– Rachel Alexandra notwithstanding, it’s generally unusual to see a female run well against males– Zenyatta carried the expectations of the entire industry into the gate on Saturday night.
This was not going to go well.
I’d have said that even if she’d won. Focusing the hopes and dreams of the entire industry on a single horse is pretty much never going to go well, whether the mount in question ends the day as the catastrophically injured Eight Belles or the victorious Rachel Alexandra. When said horse retires or– as is more likely– loses, what happens to all those insta- fans?
The past decade has been rife with near- Triple Crown misses, and the pressure has become unbearable for all of a horse’s connections when the Derby and the Preakness are won by the same horse. It’s not good for the horse; it’s not good for the industry.
Breeding runs in cycles. In the ’70′s, American racing had hit on the right combination of toughness, quickness, and stamina to produce several Triple Crown winners. Right now, the breed is short-starting, more delicate. Until fresh blood has revitalized the domestic form of the breed, I’m going to continue to cringe on behalf of the sport I love.
Watch a little here, a little there. Take some risks with exposure for races other than the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup– networks, and the sport, might be pleasantly surprised.
Zenyatta is a big girl– six years old, and taller than Secretariat. Her owners are to be commended for continuing to run her beyond the usual 3-4 years which superstars usually serve. That’s good for the sport and good for the breed.
But stacking all expectations on a repeat is not.
