NEWS
Commentary: Marketing the Breeders’ Cup
Posted: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:38 PM
by Patrick Patten
Here’s what I think I know: If you could create the same amount of buzz prior to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships that exists before the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), then Breeders’ Cup President Greg Avioli would give you lifetime seats and possibly rename the Juvenile Fillies Turf in your honor.
But for now, I hope the following ideas are good enough for at least general admission next year at Churchill Downs.
The Derby decides starters based on graded stakes earnings. The Breeders’ Cup should employ a similar system that not only gives top performers in Breeders’ Cup races a spot in the gate but also gives their connections a choice in which gate to start. I.e., post position choice.
The mainstream Kentucky Derby buzz starts in earnest when the Breeders’ Cup two-year-old races are in the books and, as the calendar turns, the buzz grows and so does the number of questions related to the upcoming Derby.
Who can get the distance? Who has the best connections? Whose speed figures are up to par? Even casual fans engage the Derby debate in a way unseen for any other Thoroughbred racing event throughout the year.
Part of what drives this excitement is the Derby condition that the 20 horses with the most earnings in graded stakes get to contest the race in the event that it oversubscribes.
A list of potential Derby starters and their earnings in graded stakes races begins circulating as early as February. Fans know what each race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby means to their favorite’s chances. This process helps the race generate buzz among not only hardcore fans but also casual fans who otherwise might only tune in to the Derby itself.
Breeders’ Cup Ltd. has attempted to market a similar path to its World Championships event each year, but that road is a bit more complicated with multiple divisions. However, graded stakes races are the backbone to both prep seasons.
Just as winners of graded stakes races for two-year-old males in the winter and spring become instant Derby contenders, so too do graded stakes winners in the summer and fall become contenders for their respective Breeders’ Cup races. The Breeders’ Cup even has a marketing gimmick called “Win And You’re In,” with winners of certain races qualifying for an automatic spot in a corresponding Breeders’ Cup divisional race.
The Win and You’re In provision, however, is only one part of a three-tiered process that determines who starts in a Breeders’ Cup race. In the event that a Breeders’ Cup race oversubscribes, the Win and You’re In qualifiers get in first, followed by a points system and a panel of “experts” picking horses for the remaining spots.
It is a complicated system that creates more confusion than excitement, but the Breeders’ Cup event is more about seeing fan favorites perform well than it is about who starts.
Because of this, I suggest turning the Kentucky Derby formula somewhat upside down and creating the drama around the top of the list: the stars.
Limiting the Win and You’re In program to specific races creates more confusion. Some Grade 2 and Grade 3 events are included in the Win And You’re In series, but certain Grade 1 races are not—an aspect of the program that some casual fans do not understand.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge series should brand itself using the races that already lead to qualification: the graded stakes. Connections of horses who compete well in the series benefit by getting to choose their post position for the Breeders’ Cup race.
The incentive adds more meaning to the races than attaching a Win and You’re In designation does because it is not as if the winner of the Ancient Title Stakes (G1) would ever be denied a spot in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
The post position draw becomes more about strategy and gives the media a chance to review the top horses and discuss handicapping each Breeders’ Cup race.
Lookin At Lucky illustrates how this system could help the stars who drive the sport. He started from post 13 in this year’s Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and finished second by a nose. Racing luck is as much a part of the sport as anything else, but so is rewarding success. The two-time Grade 1 winner deserved a fairer shake, and a revamped system could have given him just that.
Patrick Patten blogs at http://handride.blogspot.com. To respond to this commentary or offer suggestions for future topics, email Thoroughbred Times by clicking here.
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