Keeneland in the lead for '15 Breeders' Cup
Apr 30, 2014 12:43:38 GMT -5
Post by cait on Apr 30, 2014 12:43:38 GMT -5
this would be an improvement from the BC Corp but won't be surprised if it doesn't happen lol although haveing 3 kland BC board members might help - maybe they just want to get the BC in the news during the biggest week of racing media coverage for the public
Keeneland in the lead for Breeders' Cup
Tim Sullivan, Lousisvilke COurier Journal
The race is not yet over. The finish line is still a few furlongs away. But the contenders for the 2015 Breeders' Cup have pulled away from the pack and the leader looks like ...
Keeneland?
Easily distinguished from the corporate colossus that is Churchill Downs, Lexington's boutique track appears to have distanced itself from its vast, venerable neighbor in the stretch run for the next available Breeders' Cup.
Caution: No contract has been confirmed. Breeders' Cup Chief Executive Officer Craig Fravel responded to a text message Tuesday with non-committal boilerplate: "As a policy, we do not comment on host site matters until we are prepared to make an announcement," he wrote. "I would hope to be in a position to make an announcement early this summer."
Yet the rumblings of a nearly done deal (and of a 2016 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar) have been rising in volume among industry insiders, particularly since Keeneland announced its decision to return to a dirt track earlier this month. And while Keeneland vice president Vince Gabbert characterized himself as "very optimistic" on Tuesday, Churchill Downs' VP John Asher sounded like a man rehearsing his concession speech.
"We hope it will come back here some day," Asher said during Derby week conditioning at Churchill Downs. "We're very eager to host it again sometime down the road. But Keeneland would be a great spot. We're fans of having it in the state of Kentucky, where the idea for the championship originated, and Keeneland's obviously a shining jewel in our industry."
When the 2014 Breeders' Cup was awarded to Santa Anita last summer, Asher made no effort to mask his disappointment. "I would have thought we were 3-5 to get it back for next year," he said at the time.
Tuesday, Asher's tack was diplomacy, and he was unfailingly gracious in his comments about Keeneland, but it was hard to read the Breeders' Cup tea leaves without sensing some repudiation of Churchill Downs.
As America's most historic racing venue and the site of the six largest Breeders' Cup crowds, Churchill Downs occupies a singular niche in the industry's lore and in its ledgers. Though Keeneland would expect to add 10,000-15,000 temporary seats for a Breeders' Cup, the three best-attended Kentucky Derbies quadrupled Keeneland's record turnout of 40,617. Lately, however, Churchill Downs' ability to generate cash has been running neck-and-neck with its knack for making enemies.
Last year, former Breeders' Cup board member Satish Sanan said his colleagues objected to the "attitude," "arrogance" and "hardball" of Churchill Downs. Last Friday, a web site called Playersboycott.com urged gamblers to boycott the track because of an increased takeout rate that followed last year's 240 percent rise in the compensation of the company's top executives.
Monday, Fox Hill Farms' Rick Porter, whose Derby horses included the tragic Eight Belles, published a lengthy blog criticism of his treatment by the track and, in particular, the availability and cost of tickets for horsemen.
"Every trainer you talk to has a complaint about the front side of Churchill," Porter said Tuesday afternoon. "It just seems that they keep pushing the ball further and further and further and I think it's because they have the Kentucky Derby. I think they think they can do anything. ...
"I wouldn't be surprised if (the Breeders' Cup) never goes back to Churchill Downs. I hope they never go back to Churchill Downs."
As a publicly traded company, Churchill Downs' ultimate responsibility is to its stockholders. Its executives are paid to maximize profits, to exploit demand and, arguably, to charge whatever the market will bear for the costliest two minutes in sports.
To the extent a bottom-line approach creates friction with customers, and potentially hurts Churchill's chances at gaining approval for a casino license, perhaps that's not the company's smartest long-term strategy. Yet in a niche sport fraught with challenges, it's hard to find too much fault in capitalizing on the one day of the year when public interest far outstrips your core constituency.
"Everything we do, you have a fiduciary responsibility," Asher said. "You have to do things that are in the best interests of your investors. But we also want to do things for the best interests of our track, our sport and our industry. Those Twin Spires mean a lot when you get off of the 147 acres.
"I don't think our approach to the Breeders' Cup would be any different if we weren't public. We've looked at it. We've got a proven record of success and I think they (the Breeders' Cup) know that and we've had very positive discussions with them. I do expect it back some day. I'm not sure how soon."
Keeneland's Gabbert declined to speculate on the Breeders' Cup's timetable, but his confidence in landing racing's two-day world championships is in part a product of "the marriage of values" of two like-minded institutions. Three of the 14 directors on the Breeders' Cup board, including its chairman, William S. Farish Jr., are also board members at Keeneland.
"We're interested in hosting it," Gabbert said. "But we only want to host it if we can make it the most special and best event the Breeders' Cup has put on."
What that means is subjective. What that means for Churchill Downs is that there are considerations other than cash.
Keeneland in the lead for Breeders' Cup
Tim Sullivan, Lousisvilke COurier Journal
The race is not yet over. The finish line is still a few furlongs away. But the contenders for the 2015 Breeders' Cup have pulled away from the pack and the leader looks like ...
Keeneland?
Easily distinguished from the corporate colossus that is Churchill Downs, Lexington's boutique track appears to have distanced itself from its vast, venerable neighbor in the stretch run for the next available Breeders' Cup.
Caution: No contract has been confirmed. Breeders' Cup Chief Executive Officer Craig Fravel responded to a text message Tuesday with non-committal boilerplate: "As a policy, we do not comment on host site matters until we are prepared to make an announcement," he wrote. "I would hope to be in a position to make an announcement early this summer."
Yet the rumblings of a nearly done deal (and of a 2016 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar) have been rising in volume among industry insiders, particularly since Keeneland announced its decision to return to a dirt track earlier this month. And while Keeneland vice president Vince Gabbert characterized himself as "very optimistic" on Tuesday, Churchill Downs' VP John Asher sounded like a man rehearsing his concession speech.
"We hope it will come back here some day," Asher said during Derby week conditioning at Churchill Downs. "We're very eager to host it again sometime down the road. But Keeneland would be a great spot. We're fans of having it in the state of Kentucky, where the idea for the championship originated, and Keeneland's obviously a shining jewel in our industry."
When the 2014 Breeders' Cup was awarded to Santa Anita last summer, Asher made no effort to mask his disappointment. "I would have thought we were 3-5 to get it back for next year," he said at the time.
Tuesday, Asher's tack was diplomacy, and he was unfailingly gracious in his comments about Keeneland, but it was hard to read the Breeders' Cup tea leaves without sensing some repudiation of Churchill Downs.
As America's most historic racing venue and the site of the six largest Breeders' Cup crowds, Churchill Downs occupies a singular niche in the industry's lore and in its ledgers. Though Keeneland would expect to add 10,000-15,000 temporary seats for a Breeders' Cup, the three best-attended Kentucky Derbies quadrupled Keeneland's record turnout of 40,617. Lately, however, Churchill Downs' ability to generate cash has been running neck-and-neck with its knack for making enemies.
Last year, former Breeders' Cup board member Satish Sanan said his colleagues objected to the "attitude," "arrogance" and "hardball" of Churchill Downs. Last Friday, a web site called Playersboycott.com urged gamblers to boycott the track because of an increased takeout rate that followed last year's 240 percent rise in the compensation of the company's top executives.
Monday, Fox Hill Farms' Rick Porter, whose Derby horses included the tragic Eight Belles, published a lengthy blog criticism of his treatment by the track and, in particular, the availability and cost of tickets for horsemen.
"Every trainer you talk to has a complaint about the front side of Churchill," Porter said Tuesday afternoon. "It just seems that they keep pushing the ball further and further and further and I think it's because they have the Kentucky Derby. I think they think they can do anything. ...
"I wouldn't be surprised if (the Breeders' Cup) never goes back to Churchill Downs. I hope they never go back to Churchill Downs."
As a publicly traded company, Churchill Downs' ultimate responsibility is to its stockholders. Its executives are paid to maximize profits, to exploit demand and, arguably, to charge whatever the market will bear for the costliest two minutes in sports.
To the extent a bottom-line approach creates friction with customers, and potentially hurts Churchill's chances at gaining approval for a casino license, perhaps that's not the company's smartest long-term strategy. Yet in a niche sport fraught with challenges, it's hard to find too much fault in capitalizing on the one day of the year when public interest far outstrips your core constituency.
"Everything we do, you have a fiduciary responsibility," Asher said. "You have to do things that are in the best interests of your investors. But we also want to do things for the best interests of our track, our sport and our industry. Those Twin Spires mean a lot when you get off of the 147 acres.
"I don't think our approach to the Breeders' Cup would be any different if we weren't public. We've looked at it. We've got a proven record of success and I think they (the Breeders' Cup) know that and we've had very positive discussions with them. I do expect it back some day. I'm not sure how soon."
Keeneland's Gabbert declined to speculate on the Breeders' Cup's timetable, but his confidence in landing racing's two-day world championships is in part a product of "the marriage of values" of two like-minded institutions. Three of the 14 directors on the Breeders' Cup board, including its chairman, William S. Farish Jr., are also board members at Keeneland.
"We're interested in hosting it," Gabbert said. "But we only want to host it if we can make it the most special and best event the Breeders' Cup has put on."
What that means is subjective. What that means for Churchill Downs is that there are considerations other than cash.
