Hello from Lexington, Kentucky where they\u2019ll stage this year\u2019s annual Breeders’ Cup at beautiful Keeneland Race Course.\u00a0 I\u2019m naturally skeptical about how this event will go off given the string of Cup failures at sites of this size.<\/p>\n
You gotta give it a chance, I suppose, given how special this place is, but we\u2019ll find out tomorrow and Saturday.<\/p>\n
I flew from Newark to Nashville on Thursday morning.\u00a0 Jeff D picked me up at the airport and we enjoyed the 3.5 hour car ride to Lexington under sunny skies.\u00a0 We stopped on the perimeter of Kentucky Downs to see it and then stopped for lunch in Uno, KY at a great down-home spot on a rural highway called Mama Lou\u2019s Barbeque and Gifts.\u00a0 We both had the pulled pork platters.\u00a0 \u201cWelcome to Mama Lou\u2019s,\u201d is the greeting to each customer on the way in.<\/p>\n
On the flight to Nashville, I was discouraged to read Tom Pedulla\u2019s story in the Times about Keeneland\u2019s upcoming two days on the big stage.\u00a0 He spoke to the Presidents of both Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup.<\/p>\n
Bill Thomason (Keeneland) and Craig Fravel (Breeders’ Cup) told Pedulla independent of one another that Keeneland\u2019s switch back to a dirt surface on the main track from the artificial, cushioned surface was NOT a condition or requirement for Keeneland to get a turn hosting the Cup.<\/p>\n
This is a dubious claim.<\/p>\n
More of a problem is an overt boast by Fravel that running the Cup at Keeneland is full-on deference to the corporate crowd even if it keeps 30-thousand or more of the sport\u2019s more regular guy racing fans at home.<\/p>\n
Said Fravel on the Cup\u2019s shifting philosophy in returning to small tracks which will offer live views to no more than 20-thousand fans instead of the more reasonable 75-thousand plus at Santa Anita, Churchill or Belmont.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re more tuned into the overall experience, to provide premium seats and premium activities,\u201d said Fravel.<\/p>\n
Ugh.\u00a0 At a time when the sport is trying to hang on to every last guy who wants to attend this event, why not make space for him?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s because the Cup wants to tip its cap the sport\u2019s breeding industry which does its business here.\u00a0 And it has a twisted view on who its real fans are.<\/p>\n
-On the last several departures out of Newark, a new security hurdle has emerged and it appears to get under the skin of travelers.\u00a0 Third party vendor workers wearing blue sport coats oversee entry to the three large security checkpoints that feed into terminal C.\u00a0 Their primary function is to insure passengers have a boarding pass and are conforming to baggage limitations prescribed by the airline that operates out of that building.\u00a0 On the last half-dozen trips out of Newark, I\u2019ve noticed that these workers are making a habit of denying access to a checkpoint for what appears to be no good reason \u2013 instructing them to use a different entry point up the escalator (if it\u2019s working) and perhaps 60-70 yards away.\u00a0 All three checkpoints funnel into the same terminal and this tactic isn\u2019t being applied to evenly distribute people across the three checkpoints.\u00a0 In fact, on the last couple departures out of Newark, I was asked to walk from a near-empty checkpoint with TSA workers at the ready to one that was overwhelmed with a line that backed up a good 20 minutes.\u00a0 All I can surmise is that the blue jackets are attempting to link one\u2019s gate of departure with the nearest checkpoint.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s a head scratcher because all three checkpoints lead to the same single terminal.\u00a0 When folks get to the airport via assorted modes of transport, they inevitably go to the nearest checkpoint to get that part of it over with.\u00a0 To be told they have to walk to another checkpoint that leads to the same Promised Land makes \u2018em crazy.\u00a0 The donning of blue jackets give some illusion that it\u2019s the airline that\u2019s imposing this disorder.\u00a0 All this before you even reach the TSA and you\u2019ve got the New York crowd all worked up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello from Lexington, Kentucky where they\u2019ll stage this year\u2019s annual Breeders’ Cup at beautiful Keeneland Race Course.\u00a0 I\u2019m naturally skeptical about how this event will go off given the string of Cup failures at sites of this size. You gotta … Continue reading