HOLY CRAP!!! SAM HOUSTON BIDDING FOR 2009 OR 2010 BREEDERS' CUP!!!

I practically fell out of my chair today when I read the astounding and exhilarating news that Sam Houston Race Park is putting together a bid for the 2009 or 2010 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships!

Much to my dismay, this development has aroused almost no interest from the media, both locally and within the racing publications. The Houston Chronicle buried it deep in a short item about the new management appointments at the track, mentioning it practically as an afterthought. Let's be frank here, most racing fans, and certainly most general sports fans, could give a darn who the new execs are. But the biggest event in the sport possibly coming to your town's racetrack, THAT'S A BIG FREAKIN' DEAL!

To read the local coverage about the new executives at Sam Houston, with a passing mention of the really big news, click here.

As an aside, I have to mention how great it is to see the track taking a chance on a young, female, entertainment-oriented executive. Everything about her and her experience is the opposite of what you would expect of a racetrack exec, which is why I like her already. It so happens that I got to hang out with some folks from the Houston Comets organization a few weeks ago, and that is a really great, well-run franchise.

Now back to the Breeders' Cup news. Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form naturally recognized the significance of a Breeders' cup bid and mentioned it in the first paragraph of her article about changes at Sam Houston...

Bork taking on new duties at Sam Houston

But there has yet to be one in-depth report on this announcement. There was a press release from the track today, which I'll post at the end of this entry.

The release lists several compelling points in support of their bid, which I will now address individually. In case it's not abundantly clear, I am overwhelmingly in favor of Sam Houston hosting a Breeders' Cup and believe they could do a great job of it.

The statments in quotes are from the track news release, and all the comments are mine...

"Houston is the fourth largest city in America, a very international city with all the necessary infrastructure to make a Houston a highly successful host site"

Couldn't agree more. This place has world-class everything. Tonight I was at a meeting for the Houston Greeters, a group I'm on the volunteer committee for that pairs up visitors with residents who have very specific interests so people can see this incrdible city with a native to guide them. The meeting tonight brought together all the volunteers, a group that includes people from every walk of life. They offer greets in more than 20 languages, and tonight's gathering was like a UN session, but more interesting. Cowboys, Indians, Asians, Mexicans, Euros, we have it all here and everyone loves it.

Did you know this is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with equal populations of whites, blacks, and Latinos, not to mention some of the largest Vietnamese and Korean populations in the country?

Restaurants, hotels, sports, museums, galleries, performing arts, parks, universities, medical centers, science, industry, and on and on, Houston is home to some of the best in every category. It's probably the most dynamic and unusual city I've ever lived in.

"The weather in late October/ early November is ideally suited for both the equine participants and racing fans"

I can confirm this because when Lone Star was preparing for its Breeders' Cup a few years back, I helped prepare a report on the weather in Texas in late October and early November. I researched 100 years worth of weather data, which showed an ideal average daytime temperature that was in the upper sixties, with little chance of rain. There ended up being some rain the week of Lone Star's Breeders' Cup, but by the big day it was gone and the weather was absolutely perfect.

"Sam Houston Race Park is conveniently located fifteen minutes from George Bush International Airport and has an abundance of hotels, restaurants and other attractions in northwest Houston"

The distance from the airport is accurate, and an important point for horsemen concerned about shipping. It's an easy flight here from almost anywhere in the world (has anyone noticed that Houston is one of two American cities with daily non-stop flights to and from Dubai?), and it would be an easy trip from the airport to the track.

The part where the track is stretching here is with the supposed attractions in Northwest Houston. There really aren't any, especially not any that would impress any sophisticated international visitors. If people come to visit Houston, don't encourage them to stay out there, make sure they stay at one of several fabulous boutique hotels in the city. If visitors to Houston don't actually come and see life "inside the loop," where the action is, they'll never want to come back.

But that shouldn't be a hindrance. Because of the amount of land necessary, almost no tracks are in highly desirable areas. Lone Star showcased everything that was great about Dallas and Fort Worth, but also managed to do it without slighting Grand Prairie and Arlington, where they packed the hotels.

Sam Houston shouldn't feel pressured to make Northwest Houston sound like something it isn't. Belmont is a pain to get to from Manhattan, and the other Triple Crown venues are bordered by some pretty sketchy neighborhoods. Who cares? It's about showcasing the whole metropolitan area. Instead of boostering for Northwest Houston, just promise you'll fill their hotels, but concentrate the publicity efforts on all that is amazing and beautiful, and genuinely impressive, throughout the city.

"The City of Houston has hosted a multitude of top sporting events including Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, Shell Open PGA Tournament, the year-ending Masters Tennis Event and the Houston Grand Prix races."

I went to that MLB All-Star Game and, man, the hospitality and events were awesome. Everything was centered downtown, there was a great press party with Los Lonely Boys at the Convention Center (right before they really blew up and I was one of about 10 people even paying attention to their incredible live show), another lavish affair the night before at the Aquarium. It was a blast, and Houston knows how to throw a party.

As long as you have the right venues, which Houston does, everything else falls into place. Even if much of the city is ugly, the VIPs will never see it anyway, as they spend the whole weekend tooling around in shuttle busses from one perfectly choreographed event to the next.

"Sam Houston Race Park boasts a solid management team led by Robert L. Bork, current president of Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA)"

As far as I can tell they do everything they can in a very tough market. While a typical evening at Sam Houston leaves much to be desired, I have rarely felt like any of the shortcomings were a reflection of the management. If you put great horses and an interested crowd out there, which the Breeders' Cup would undoubtedly attract, it can be as good as most anywhere.

"Texas is home to many prominent members of the racing community including Robert McNair, William Heiligbrodt, Leland Ackerley, W. Temple Webber and William Farish, who operates a Texas breeding farm, Lane’s End Texas"

They forgot to mention me.

Now here are some other points they could add in later materials...

A quote in the release by Bob Bork touches on the racing surfaces, which will be a huge selling point. As long as I've been in Texas the horsemen have raved about both surfaces at Sam Houston. They are safe and fair. And that turf course is a sight to behold. The importance of the surfaces can not be underestimated, especially when you're a track that many top trainers have never been to.

The stable area. Relatively new, neat, spacious stalls. Most horsemen don't seem to care whether a stable area is aesthetically pleasing, they just want large stalls and lots of water.

How about the history in Texas? From King Ranch to the Asmussen family, Assault to Todd Pletcher, this state is steeped in racing tradition. And, of course, it wouldn't hurt to point to the success of Lone Star's Breeders' Cup as a model of what a mid-size track in Texas can do. And Sam Houston has its own history of course, as Bork also mentions, having hosted the NTRA Great State Challenge and the MBNA Challenge Championships. Yes, this is a different league than those events, but it says something that the NTRA and AQHA were willing to trust Sam Houston to host those. I came down from Dallas for that Great State Challenge and had an awesome time. Take Charge Lady was there and one of my favorite mares ever, Coastalota, ran second to her.

The suites. A big thing that the new and recently renovated racetracks have to offer over the older ones is the suites. They are huge revenue generators on a big day, when owners and corporations will pay obscene amounts of money for one. And the suites level at Houston, which is the same level as the press box, is right on top of the track, a perfect view. Just high enough to see over the tote board onto the backstretch, but close enough you could maybe toss a quarter onto the dirt.

The access. Tons of parking (pretty easy when you're surrounded by parking lots, open fields, and warehouses) and easy access to the highway adjacent to the property. Makes life a breeze for everyone. Right now Cirque du Soleil is using the track parking lot as its home for an extended multi-week run of its touring show. Why? Because there's a ton of space, a ton of parking, and easy access for people from all over the region to come in for the evening.

The media. I don't mean because they love horseracing, because they don't. But they love big events and this is a key market. In New York or LA the Breeders' Cup is like a blip on the radar in the midst of all the events happening there every day, but in Houston it would be like 2004 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which had wall-to-wall Breeders' Cup coverage. Everywhere you turned there was some local tv news reporter who didn't know a thing about racing asking who they could interview and when. There were special sections in both newspapers the weekend of the races, to cap off what was months of intense horseracing coverage. Of course, both the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram employed full-time turfwriters then, which sounds like a fantasy in this century, but I'm sure it was true. Nonetheless, in a place like Houston, it doens't matter if they love racing, you just tell them it's a big event and there will be a stampede of tv trucks, as well as ticket buyers.

I'm sure I'll think of more reasons in the coming weeks why this should happen. I'm beside myself at the possibility.

Here's the full release from Sam Houston...



Sam Houston Race Park Preparing a Bid for the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors

SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK (Thursday, March 29, 2007) - The 2006/2007 Sam Houston Race Park Thoroughbred Meeting is winding down and will conclude on Saturday, April 7 with the running of the Grade III Connally Breeders’ Cup Turf.

However, officials at Sam Houston Race Park are hard at work on another major racing project and want to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2009 or 2010. With the assistance of Bryan Pettigrew of Affinity Sports Marketing, Sam Houston Race Park has submitted a bid to Greg Avioli, president of Breeders’ Cup Limited and the Breeders’ Cup Board of Directors to host the biggest Thoroughbred racing event in the country.

The compelling points for consideration of Sam Houston Race Park as a host site include:

Houston is the fourth largest city in America, a very international city with all the necessary infrastructure to make a Houston a highly successful host site

The weather in late October/ early November is ideally suited for both the equine participants and racing fans

Sam Houston Race Park is conveniently located fifteen minutes from George Bush International Airport and has an abundance of hotels, restaurants and other attractions in northwest Houston

The City of Houston has hosted a multitude of top sporting events including Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, Shell Open PGA Tournament, the year-ending Masters Tennis Event and the Houston Grand Prix races.

Sam Houston Race Park boasts a solid management team led by Robert L. Bork, current president of Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA)

Texas is home to many prominent members of the racing community including Robert McNair, William Heiligbrodt, Leland Ackerley, W. Temple Webber and William Farish, who operates a Texas breeding farm, Lane’s End Texas

"Sam Houston Race Park has accomplished a great deal since its opening in 1994," said Robert L. Bork, the track's Vice Chairman. "We were proud to host the NTRA Great State Challenge in 2002 and the MBNA Challenge Championships in 2004 and received many compliments from horsemen regarding our excellent surfaces. In addition, we are confident of our ability to entertain and create first-class hospitality for both the racing fans and VIPs. It will be our goal to make the Breeders’ Cup World Championships an unqualified success."

Pettigrew has been working with major sports and event consultants planning for a crowd of 60,000 fans at Sam Houston Race Park attending the two-day Breeders’ Cup racing and festivities.