Comments for Breaking from the Gate http://www.startingate.com/blog Random thoughts from the world of racing Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:53:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Comment on Eliminating Drugs in Racing by Patrick http://www.startingate.com/blog/?p=30&cpage=1#comment-485 Patrick Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:53:32 +0000 http://toddbowker.com/blog/?p=30#comment-485 Hi, just wanted to let you know <a href="http://tbablogs.com/" rel="nofollow">TBAblogs</a> is following you. We've linked to your blog and we'd love if we could do a link swap. We're committed to following every great racing blog out there (123 people on Twitter, 132 blogs, 38 horse racing news feeds, pp search, video, and a little karma [charity] too) , so if we're missing any or if you have a comment let me know. Thanks Patrick Hi, just wanted to let you know TBAblogs is following you. We’ve linked to your blog and we’d love if we could do a link swap. We’re committed to following every great racing blog out there (123 people on Twitter, 132 blogs, 38 horse racing news feeds, pp search, video, and a little karma [charity] too) , so if we’re missing any or if you have a comment let me know.
Thanks
Patrick

]]> Comment on If baseball can do it … by Malcer http://www.startingate.com/blog/?p=34&cpage=1#comment-484 Malcer Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:05:20 +0000 http://toddbowker.com/blog/?p=34#comment-484 Finding any kind of career results sheet even for retired equine superstars not named Secretariat can be impossible unless you subscribe to any special service. For an industry that, like baseball, is about stories and stats there is no excuse to not provide vital info about it's former stars. As an example I tried a couple of great horses retired less than a decade ago (selection following the first to come to mind principle): Lido Palace (Chi): easy to find his greatest triumphs (which include the Woodward twice, the Whitney as well as HOTY honors and back-to-back age group championships in Chile). However, the problems start with the source. All of this info is provided on the horse's stallion page and in various stallion registries, meaning that once he retires as a stallion this info won't be readily available anymore. Another problem is that those career recaps serve an advertising function, meaning they are incomplete. Races where the horse didn't do well (rare in his case) aren't mentioned and any information is tailored so as to look as favorable as possible. It's worse for non-stallions. Xtra Heat might have been the 2001 champion 3yo filly, but that doesn't mean you can find a solid career recap anywhere on the net for free. The Eclipse Awards page started to archive past performances for their candidates starting in 2002, but that still means you only get results for the year the were nominated, nothing about their career before or after that point. You know there is an information problem when not even the National Museum of Racing finds it necessary to provide free online forms for the greats it deemed worthy of induction into their Hall of Fame. How are new fans expected to get fascinated by the rich tradition of the sport if the racing industry hides it from them? Baseball fans love to delve into never-ending discussions about remote topics such as the best left-handed Reds pitcher of the 1930s, it helps keeping their interest awake. Racing fans might love to discuss the virtues of Gallant Bob v Honorable Miss, if only they had easier access to some arguments. Finding any kind of career results sheet even for retired equine superstars not named Secretariat can be impossible unless you subscribe to any special service. For an industry that, like baseball, is about stories and stats there is no excuse to not provide vital info about it’s former stars.

As an example I tried a couple of great horses retired less than a decade ago (selection following the first to come to mind principle):

Lido Palace (Chi): easy to find his greatest triumphs (which include the Woodward twice, the Whitney as well as HOTY honors and back-to-back age group championships in Chile). However, the problems start with the source. All of this info is provided on the horse’s stallion page and in various stallion registries, meaning that once he retires as a stallion this info won’t be readily available anymore. Another problem is that those career recaps serve an advertising function, meaning they are incomplete. Races where the horse didn’t do well (rare in his case) aren’t mentioned and any information is tailored so as to look as favorable as possible.

It’s worse for non-stallions. Xtra Heat might have been the 2001 champion 3yo filly, but that doesn’t mean you can find a solid career recap anywhere on the net for free. The Eclipse Awards page started to archive past performances for their candidates starting in 2002, but that still means you only get results for the year the were nominated, nothing about their career before or after that point.

You know there is an information problem when not even the National Museum of Racing finds it necessary to provide free online forms for the greats it deemed worthy of induction into their Hall of Fame. How are new fans expected to get fascinated by the rich tradition of the sport if the racing industry hides it from them? Baseball fans love to delve into never-ending discussions about remote topics such as the best left-handed Reds pitcher of the 1930s, it helps keeping their interest awake. Racing fans might love to discuss the virtues of Gallant Bob v Honorable Miss, if only they had easier access to some arguments.

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