NEWS
National presence wanted
for Apple Blossom telecast
Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 9:48 PM
by Jeff Lowe
Six weeks away from the “Race for the Ages” showdown between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, Oaklawn Park officials were working to firm up live television coverage of the $5-million Apple Blossom Invitational Stakes (G1) on April 9.
ESPN analyst Randy Moss is representing Oaklawn in the negotiations. Moss, a longtime Turf writer who developed the Moss Pace Figures, is a native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and he worked for Oaklawn for two years as operations director.
Mark Mandel, a spokesman for the ESPN family of networks, said on February 25 that the company was in talks over television rights for the Apple Blossom. ESPN will carry the live broadcast of the Masters golf tournament the same day from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT. The Friday portion of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships has aired on ESPN2 the past three years.
Another potential candidate, NBC Sports, has been immersed in coverage of the Olympics. An NBC spokesman said he would not be able to discuss the Apple Blossom until the conclusion of the Winter Games on February 28.
NBC already is committed to carrying the Arkansas Derby (G1) from Oaklawn on April 10 as part of a series of Triple Crown prep races that will air on the network over the first two Saturdays in April. An NBC affiliate, USA Network, also will carry the Louisiana Derby (G2) and Lane’s End Stakes (G2) on March 27.
Churchill Downs Inc. will spend up to $2-million for the three Saturday broadcasts. The schedule was finalized in early January, a month before the Apple Blossom showdown came together.
Moss said a deal for the Apple Blossom may not be announced before Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta make their respective seasonal debuts on March 13. Rachel Alexandra is slated for the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fair Grounds, and Zenyatta is scheduled to return in the Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
“At this point, I can tell you only that I feel confident the Apple Blossom Invitational will have a national TV presence, as a race of this magnitude should,” Moss said in an e-mail on February 26. “Negotiations are underway and details are still being ironed out. You may not hear an announcement on the TV arrangements until Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta get past their March 13 prep races safe and sound.
“Racing fans everywhere are hopeful this dream matchup will finally come to fruition, but we’ve all been around the sport long enough to know we can’t start counting chickens yet.”
Charles Cella, Oaklawn’s president, is personally funding a large portion of the $5-million purse that the race will offer if both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta compete. Cella has referred to his contribution as “bridge financing.”
“We hope to recover some of that money from TV,” Cella told the Houston Chronicle.
The Apple Blossom will revert to its original purse, $500,000, if either Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta bows out.
Oaklawn Assistant General Manager David Longinotti said the post time for the Apple Blossom would not be set until the television situation is finalized.
“The holdup is that some of the other networks are involved in other things, like NBC is doing the Olympics and other networks are doing other things,” said Terry Wallace, track announcer and director of publicity for Oaklawn. “I think everybody understands that we can’t wait much longer.”
The Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau added a wrinkle to promotion of the Apple Blossom by printing 25,000 trading cards each of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta for free distribution to the public.
The convention and visitors bureau made trading cards of former President Bill Clinton and 2004 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Smarty Jones in previous years.
In sweeping the Rebel Stakes, Arkansas Derby, and Kentucky Derby, Smarty Jones earned a $5-million bonus that Cella put up in 2004 as part of the track’s centennial anniversary.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
