Kingfisher;

Rather than looking for a Triple Crown winner to "save" racing (the horses are already carrying more than their fair share) the bozos who run racing in the US should consider your post.

If the NTRA and the big tracks were able to put a fraction of the resources that the networks put towards TV coverage of other sports into improving racing's video the upgrade in quality images would do more to attract fans than three TC winners.

I have not been in France for more than 10 years, but even back then the quality of their video coverage put the best US coverage to shame. Longchamp had cameras mounted on cars that got incredible images tracking the pack as they made their way around the course.

In the past TGJB has made the point of how football ratings were helped by quality camera coverage and experts like Madden breaking down plays and making the game more compelling to viewers. Why can't a Belmont or a Churchill install mounted cameras on the outer rails (like the mechanical rabbits at dog tracks) that could track the pack and provide better video?

The Museum of Racing in Saratoga used to have a film (not sure if they still do) that showed what it was like to be a jockey ... gorgeous filmed images of a realistic looking race set to rollicking Aaron Copland music ... made me want to lose 110 pounds and learn how to ride.

Those tracking shots that they have used on some BC telecasts were pretty great - why can't racing have that on an everyday basis?

Good luck making sense of French racing ... get to the Arc on the first Sunday in October if you get the chance. Great racing and a nice culture clash between the French ladies in their fancy hats and the Brits and the Irish betting with both fists and standing guard over their mountains of beer cases.

JB - Good luck at Ascot!

B