Not ALL Bad at the BC

(Sarah K. Andrew)

Sure, there’s the giant deficit and issues with W&YI, not to mention the ongoing call for change with the upcoming board vote. Even Blood Horse, who’s been accused by some of being an industry mouth piece, has been busting BC chops (ok, not really busting chops per se).

While it’s annoying that the BC isn’t running any W&YI races at Saratoga, it certainly doesn’t mean there won’t be great racing at the Spa. I still have my fingers crossed for a 2011 BC at Belmont but there’s plenty of time to get worked up over that one, although I think o_crunk is on to something.

In the meantime, there are few good things worth pointing out in Breeders’ Cup-ville. As mentioned many times before, yours truly is not a sports fan. So when the Breeders’ Cup announced a charity partnership V Foundation I was a little confused. Why are they not supporting a racing charity?

I was chatting about it with Swifty and he clued me in on the V Foundation. For those of you who also don’t give a rat’s ass about sports, The V Foundation is named after Jimmy Valvano, a beloved coach and sports broadcaster who died from cancer. Knowing that one of the Breeders’ Cup missions is to grow the event, this partnership started to made a lot more sense.

One of the perks of this arrangement is that the Breeders’ Cup has an excellent donated auction item in the upcoming annual “Don’t Give Up” auction to benefit the V Foundation and promote the ESPYs. The auction takes place on the Mike and Mike show July 15th at 7:00am (apparently a great morning talk show time slot).

Saddle Up for the Breeder’s Cup! This package includes two (2) tickets in the exclusive Trophy Lounge for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday, November 6, 2009 and Saturday, November 7, 2009 at Santa Anita Park, California. Also included: two (2) tickets to the VIP Winner’s Circle Celebration Kick-Off event on Thursday, November 5th, a meet and greet with the talent at the celebration, and a visit with the horses in the Saddling Ring prior to the Ladies’ Classic. Winners will get an exclusive meet and greet with a Breeders’ Cup favorite at their stall at Santa Anita AND two (2) spots to watch from the Winner’s Circle for the Ladies’ Classic on Friday and the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday. This experience is non-transferable. Dates and details subject to change. This package is for the winner and one (1) guest.

I wonder if the talent are the horses? I guess so given the saddling ring and stall visit. No matter who runs in the F/M Classic it’s always cool to hang out in the paddock with the fancy people (not like I’ve ever done that). I also wonder which race they’ll pick to visit the favorite prior to the race? Let’s hope that either someone who loves racing and can appreciate it wins OR that whoever wins falls in love with racing after doing those things.

But as I was saying earlier, what about a racing charity? TCA is this year’s Breeders’ Cup racing charity. After seeing the V Foundation news I was curious about what the BC has planned for the TCA so I asked Peter Rotondo, VP of Media and Entertainment.

Besides what he characterized as a “sizable donation”, the BC plans on offering the TCA copious media promotion opportunities during their broadcasts, plenty of on track presence during the event and the general access/exposure that comes along with a big event such as the BC.

So, not ALL bad, right? Supporting the those who support our retired equine stars and getting racing in front of new folks… now if we can just get those new folks to bet! Show parlay anyone?

Full Disclosure – the Breeders’ Cup is a Hello Race Fans advertiser.