RacingDispatch.com Derby Poll
It's that time of year again...time for the racing prognosticators, including me, to renew the annual ritual of drawing straws and pretending as if we have any idea who will win the Kentucky Derby, which is still more than three months away. All the speculation is great fun, of course, but anyone who actually lands on the Derby winner in January is nothing more than the recipient of some good fortune. Unless, of course, that person duplicates the feat over a few years, then I'll start believing that any winter opinions truly matter.
Not that the Derby Watches and Triple Crown Manias and so forth are a waste of time. They're how we familiarize ourselves with the competitors and learn the storylines so we know what's what when the field is finally set. I guess my point is, don't go wasting your money on future wagers or boasting to people that the allowance winner you saw on the Gulfstream simulcast is your new Derby horse. The real handicapping doesn't start for another two months.
That said, I can't resist being part of the fun. There's a great new weekly poll of media, plus a handful of legitimate experts, over at racingdispatch.com. There are 20 participants, one of which, for some reason, is me. Also in on the fun is this state's (and the region's) foremost racing journalist, and one of the ones I refer to as a legitimate expert, Gary West.
The 20 voters rank their top 20 Derby prospects from 1 to 20, with point values assigned according to ranking. It's a great way to get a feel for some sort of consensus, as opposed to the individual lists out there. In this case I'd call it more of a "Wiseguy Consensus," since these are not your typical racing media poll voters and this is not your typical poll. Unlike, say, the NTRA poll of 3-year-olds, which ranks the colts based on what they've accomplished, this poll is a bunch of pundits forecasting the potential to win one race in particular. In other words, the Racing Dispatch poll is more fun, more useful, and far less obvious!
By the way, I wanted to link to the NTRA poll, but it looks like it isn't going yet. The current one on their website is from last June. Anyone know for sure if that's a website maintenance issue, or does the NTRA stop conducting the 3-year-old poll after the Belmont? Either way, that's pretty lame.
Anyway, I was invited into the Racing Dispatch poll by Louisiana Downs track announcer Travis Stone, who I first met while we were on the Saratoga Special staff together in 2005. I don't know these other dudes running the Racing Dispatch, but Travis is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated racing fans I've met, so check out his poll, his site, and his racecalls. His passion comes through in all of these endeavors and that alone is good enough reason to be thankful we have him in the region.
In any case, I'm honored, but totally intimidated, to be in a poll with some of these guys, especially Mr. West. Here I am, cramming like a seventh-year college student just trying to round out my top 20. Meanwhile, West, as usual, has a list of 50 contenders, some of whom I've never even heard of! Visit the Lone Star Park Press Box Blog to see his numbers 25-50, which couldn't fit into the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Being in this poll I'm totally paranoid about voting for a horse that's off the trail and looking like a total doofus. Our individual votes aren't listed on racingdispatch.com, but this week I'll start listing my votes here. Why? Because I believe in transparency and accountability, dammit!
Not that the Derby Watches and Triple Crown Manias and so forth are a waste of time. They're how we familiarize ourselves with the competitors and learn the storylines so we know what's what when the field is finally set. I guess my point is, don't go wasting your money on future wagers or boasting to people that the allowance winner you saw on the Gulfstream simulcast is your new Derby horse. The real handicapping doesn't start for another two months.
That said, I can't resist being part of the fun. There's a great new weekly poll of media, plus a handful of legitimate experts, over at racingdispatch.com. There are 20 participants, one of which, for some reason, is me. Also in on the fun is this state's (and the region's) foremost racing journalist, and one of the ones I refer to as a legitimate expert, Gary West.
The 20 voters rank their top 20 Derby prospects from 1 to 20, with point values assigned according to ranking. It's a great way to get a feel for some sort of consensus, as opposed to the individual lists out there. In this case I'd call it more of a "Wiseguy Consensus," since these are not your typical racing media poll voters and this is not your typical poll. Unlike, say, the NTRA poll of 3-year-olds, which ranks the colts based on what they've accomplished, this poll is a bunch of pundits forecasting the potential to win one race in particular. In other words, the Racing Dispatch poll is more fun, more useful, and far less obvious!
By the way, I wanted to link to the NTRA poll, but it looks like it isn't going yet. The current one on their website is from last June. Anyone know for sure if that's a website maintenance issue, or does the NTRA stop conducting the 3-year-old poll after the Belmont? Either way, that's pretty lame.
Anyway, I was invited into the Racing Dispatch poll by Louisiana Downs track announcer Travis Stone, who I first met while we were on the Saratoga Special staff together in 2005. I don't know these other dudes running the Racing Dispatch, but Travis is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated racing fans I've met, so check out his poll, his site, and his racecalls. His passion comes through in all of these endeavors and that alone is good enough reason to be thankful we have him in the region.
In any case, I'm honored, but totally intimidated, to be in a poll with some of these guys, especially Mr. West. Here I am, cramming like a seventh-year college student just trying to round out my top 20. Meanwhile, West, as usual, has a list of 50 contenders, some of whom I've never even heard of! Visit the Lone Star Park Press Box Blog to see his numbers 25-50, which couldn't fit into the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Being in this poll I'm totally paranoid about voting for a horse that's off the trail and looking like a total doofus. Our individual votes aren't listed on racingdispatch.com, but this week I'll start listing my votes here. Why? Because I believe in transparency and accountability, dammit!
posted by Jimbo @ 1/28/2007 09:22:00 PM
1 Comments:
At 1/31/2007 8:32 AM,
Anonymous said…
Racing seems to fall back on tradition more often than not. I was wondering if this quote by Kurt Alder would apply:
"Tradition is what you resort to when you don't have the time or the money to do it right."
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