ESPN mixes in a few horse races during 7 1/2 hour Barbaro special
I decided to play the Belmont Stakes card from home today. I figured there was no need to deal with the “know-it-alls”, plus it’s been raining all day. I was pretty happy when I realized that I could watch the races in HD on ESPN instead of the simulcast feed via TVG.
That was until I realized that it was a 7 1/2 hour Barbaro special. In case you haven’t been caught up yet, Barbaro shattered his leg, they did surgery, he’s in a cast, and it will be months before we know if he is okay. The country has reached out to him with cards, letters, and emails. People love him. His jockey, trainer, and owners are upset and want to save his life. Okay, now take that and stretch it out into 15 minute segments throughout the entire afternoon. It’s boring.
So to compound my frustation, I see Hammerin’ Hank Goldberg on the screen. “I’ve picked to in a row. So here’s my exacta”… Two races later the pick 6 started, and I have four tickets going. Two of them singled Tiger in the first leg. What do I see as I flip from TVG to ESPN. “Hank-Tiger”. I knew those tickets were throwouts. I can only hope that he doesn’t like the 3/5 odds on Gorella, and looks for a price in this four horse field.
Felipe' said
am June 12 2006 @ 12:12 am
Hey DC…. I cashed in on Hank’s pick for the Manhattan… Good thing I didn’t take your picks for the Belmont. I may look like a retarded gamebird of some sort, but he picks the occasional winner. You are colder than Antartica. GO MEXICO!!!!!donchavez said
am June 12 2006 @ 2:03 am
Hank had Relaxed Gesture in the Manhattan…ran second and paid $4.30 and $3.40….in most cases Hank was all over the chalk on Saturday. What happened to his Belmont pick Bob and John? 8th place.
My pick 6 ticket went 5 of 6 and paid $200 (6-6 paid $17,541). The only leg I lost was a single of Tiger in the 6th, who got boxed in at the rail and finished second. My top 5 picks for the Belmont all finished in the top 5 spots. Hardly Antartica.
Feel free to post your picks on here every week so you can show all the readers how great of a capper you are.
The Bid said
am June 12 2006 @ 1:45 pm
As an aside …
ABC did a better job then expected for the 2 hour duration. Plenty of technical glitches (what the heck was wrong with the audio) that made them seem like a minor league cable channel but that aside the sweeping camera shots and the more European-like camera mounted on a SUV running along side the turf course was good stuff. Keep it up as the whole TC series should be reinvigorated with fresher camera shots.
They luckily put Brent and Hank both out on the edges of the broadcast. ABC relied on Jerry to bring the viewer in for a lesson on what its really like out there - and he sure as heck delivered. The mishap at the Acorn was a potential nighmare (and still was bad) that they shouldn’t have fixed the cameras on it as long as they did. (A thrashing horse that flips and then is wedged under the gate could’ve easily meant Miraculous Miss breaking multiple legs)
They had to do the Barbaro features or else further incur the wrath of suzie homemaker who wouldn’t know a gray gelding from a chestnut filly but still was weeping over the evils of racing. Ok, that’s harsh. I was happy enough to see the update too.
Look at it this way, by the time I’m up at the Spa watching the Jim Dandy or the Travers we hopefully will be hearing more about another 3 yr old and life will move on. Stevie Wonderboy should be back, Discreet Cat will be racing, Jazil, Steppenwolfer and the rest of the TC gang will be looking for mid-summer money too.
donchavez said
am June 12 2006 @ 2:59 pm
I got a chance to see some of the replay last night on ESPN2. The camera work was definitely an added bonus. I’d love to see that running shot stay in future coverage.
Bailey was great. Not only does he have great insight, but he presents himself well. Hank tends to stumble over himself a little bit, but then you have Bailey who sounds like a veteran in the broadcast booth.
I thought JB did a great job when that horse flipped in the gate. The natural instinct would have been to over react, but JB kept his cool and explained to everyone what was going on, and what happens from a jockey’s point of view in that situation. I have no idea what they were doing when they switched to that camera angle behind the gate. Coming off the Barbaro accident, that camera angle didn’t need to be seen by the public.
Now we hit a bit of a lull, but August will be here before we know it.