I left the States several days before the Belmont to take a position in Switzerland for 9 months. Try as I might, I was not able to find any television coverage. Unfortunately also, the computer I am using wasn't compatible for video with my online account, so I still have not seen the race, only the chart. I can report that Brisbet did not have any problem with Internet activity. To my disgust, as I certainly did not foresee Birdstone.

On Sunday I did happen to catch the French Derby on TV, however. The Swiss OTB shops only book French racing and I haven't so far been able to find an equivalent to the Racing Form or Thorograph, so better for me to be able to pass on it. But the TV show put NBC's coverage of the Triple Crown races to shame. Every horse had a camera with him, at least for some time, from the barn right up to loading in the gate. There was a camera mounted on a track over the starting gate so you could see each horse as it loaded. The race was followed by several cameras next to the horses so you had closeups during the race. It really was unbelievable. And cameras followed the winning jockey into the locker room, where all of the other jockeys were giving him hugs. And when have you seen Gary Stevens half naked kissing the winning jockey on both cheeks? (His horse finished way back). It was a very exciting race, also. A 33-1 shot came from midpack to just nip the 3-2 favorite. The whole broadcast, even though it was in French, was just so much more than what we get in the States. None of the little manufactured side stories. No closeups of Santos' kid crying, or the owner of Smarty Jones struggling in his wheel chair to negotiate an escalator to get to the winner's circle. And they immediately went back to the replays to determine the final unofficial order of finish for the viewers. NBC would do well to take a tip from the French regarding racing broadcasts.

One last question. Can anyone point me in the direction of handicapping tools for French racing? Are any numbers approximating Thorograph available, especially ones that take ground loss into consideration?

Thanks,

Kingfisher