Casino Drive hiding in plain sight, just like the official Belmont Stakes site! (Sarah K. Andrew)

So, I’m catching up on my reading and I’m looking at this article from Sunday’s Daily News by Jerry Bossert. I, like Steve Davidowitz (see the comments), think it’s dead on.

As I’m reading the comments, I learn something that I didn’t know about the internet…

Commenter dlydbbl1 says:

Absolutely right on. NYRA is clueless. I went to the Derby a few years ago and the whole week is one big promotion/party

Commenter Ribot says:

This writer has no idea what he is talking about or is too old to use the internet. NYRA has had the Belmont Stakes website up for over a month. The site has videos, information on the days race and activities and a history of the Belmont stakes. Here is a link to it. You would think a newspaper writer who works on a computer all day would know how to use the internet or is this just a slander piece by a bad handicapper? http://www.nyra.com/BelmontStakes2008.html

What? NYRA has a Belmont Stakes website and it’s been up for a month? Apparently I’m too old and don’t know how to use the internet!

So, I click on over to NYRA to investigate. I notice the blue header graphic touting the Belmont Stakes on the top of the page but don’t think anything of it because they always have a graphic there. Not seeing anything that stands out as a link to the “site”, I click the graphic (not that there’s any indication that I should) and behold, I’m am transported to the Official Belmont Stakes site… a gigantic slow loading static graphic file with an audio file that auto plays in the background with no volume control or way to pause or turn it off.

The audio itself sounds like what I imagine a NYRA commercial for the Belmont Stakes would sound like, do they have one of those running? The audio definitely had a much higher production value than the “site” (I use the apostrophes because it’s a page buried within the NYRA site, kentuckyderby.com is a site).

Let’s review the pluses and minuses:

Pluses:

– Links to a list of all the prior Belmont winners

– Links to a VERY comprehensive archive of Belmont race replays

Minuses:

– It’s not exactly well promoted or easy to find

– It’s a giant graphic that doesn’t really add any value with the links on the bottom

– The two informational links point to pdfs instead of pages

– The audio is without controls

– Does that slick audio go with a commercial? Let’s see it!

How about some more content, Durkin’s favorite Belmont’s, stream the press conferences, clocker’s reports, pictures from morning work outs, videos of morning work outs, a list of contenders!

Well, at least they’re trying… I would suggest registering belmontstakes.com and hiring some internet professionals to create a site next year, not that anyone from NYRA makes their way over here, as GbG is not a venue of “significant coverage.”