This is how you start a Wednesday morning folks. Best Week Ever caught an announcer going a tad bit over the top with this call of a horse race in Saratoga Springs, NY....

It turns out that the owner of the pony named it "Arrrr", but that was entertaining none-the-less. That guy must have taken lessons from Jim Nantz on how to prepare your hyperbole ahead of time. Great work.

WTF (With Leather)

Well that was a letdown, but Kent Desormeuax did the right thing in slowing the horse down. Here it is in case you missed it....

Belmont is such a huge track and you have to wonder if that injury to his hoof just made it so he couldn't go the distance. Everything seems okay with Big Brown after the race, and now everyone can not pay attention to an amazing race from Da'Tara to win it.

Shaq always makes me laugh for some reason. The guy just doesn't care and his appearance on ESPN today at the Belmont Stakes was no different. I believe he was doing a promotion for vitamin water, but Shaq decided to give some of the jockeys some tips....

That Diplomatic Immunity line is too funny, and I also love how Hank Goldberg just doesn't care that Kenny Mayne is trying to get a joke in and steps all over him to get that coach question in. Good times.

I could be wrong, but 7-hours of Horse Racing has to be unprecedented on television doesn't it? Anywho, ESPN has smartly decided center most of it's coverage this weekend for Big Brown's run at the Triple Crown. ABC will have 2 hours of live coverage starting at noon on Saturday......

ESPN will offer seven hours of coverage leading up to ABC’s two-hour race broadcast Saturday, June 7, as Big Brown attempts to win the 140th Belmont Stakes, which would make him the first horse to capture the Triple Crown since 1978. ESPN will have programming from noon to 5 p.m., followed by the race coverage on ABC. All Belmont programming on ABC and ESPN will be aired in high definition on ABC HD and ESPN HD, respectively.

Joe Tessitore and Brent Musburger will host the race coverage, with analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss, reporters Jeannine Edwards, Rece Davis, Jay Privman, Steve Cyphers, Tom Rinaldi and Caton Bredar and handicappers Kenny Mayne and Hank Goldberg. Rick Reilly will also provide commentary.

Seems like a pretty good decision given the hype surrounding Big Brown, and I don't think it would work under any other circumstance, but seven hours? That's a god awful long time to be talking horses. You can also see the selection show this Wednesday if you care about the post positions and I'll be sure to have video up shortly following the race on Saturday.

Oh and an FYI to all of you betters out there. Whatever you do....do not listen to Hank Greenberg. The Hammer has gotten killed on the last two telecasts. Here's the schedule....

Wed., June 4

11a.m.-noon (ESPN)- Belmont Draw

Fri., June 6

5-6 p.m. (ESPN2)- Hill Prince Stakes

Sat., June 7

Noon-3 p.m. (ESPN)- Today at the Belmont Stakes
3-5 p.m. (ESPN)- The Belmont Stakes Special
5-7 p.m. (ABC)- The 140th Belmont Stakes

Sun., June 8

3-5 a.m. (ESPN)- Replay of Belmont Stakes

(Via ESPN PR)

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

From HD Sports Guide:

NBC will broadcast the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes Saturday.
Coverage starts at 4:30, giving betters plenty of time to place a wager before
the 6:15 post time. NBC will broadcast all the race plus all of the pre-race
coverage in full 1080i high definition.

Apparently, the possibility of a conflict exists between Game Five of the NHL's Western Conference Finals and the start of NBC's pre-race coverage. The only affiliates that will carry the game on NBC past 4:30 are those in Detroit and Dallas. Others will have to switch to Versus, and some will lose the game altogether.

I seem to remember something like this happening in the past. Am I imagining that or were the NHL playoffs preempted at some point?

Now, my predictions (or more accurately, my completely random guesses - although I DID correctly name Eight Belles as the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby):

1. Big Brown (1-2 odds) - Like many people, I'd really like to see a Triple Crown winner.
2. Giant Moon (30-1)
3. Gayego (8-1)

Following the heels of the widely successful (sarcasm folks) look into Sports Media, Bob Costas is going to host another panel, but this time on the state of Horse Racing. This time the panel is going to take place before NBC kicks of it's coverage of the Preakness this Saturday.

Fresh off his sports media roundtable on blogs for HBO, Bob Costas will kick off the network's coverage of the Preakness Stakes (Saturday, 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET) with a panel discussion on the filly's catastrophic breakdown and other controversies surrounding Thoroughbred horse racing, says producer Sam Flood.

Among the guests: Churchill Downs veterinarian Larry Bramlage; Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones; NBC analyst Gary Stevens; and New York Times columnist William Rhoden, who blasted the sport of kings as "only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting."

I guess NBC feels it should take the time to address Eight Belles after all of the controversy surrounding the coverage of Eight Belles collapse, and that's probably a good decision. The panel seems qualified and even on both sides to address the issue of airing the animal's death and it should be a good discussion.

Costas panel to dissect horse racing's dark side (USA Today)

In other Horse Racing news, HBO's Real Sports debuted this past Monday with an extremely detailed and informative look into the Sport. I pulled the clip for everyone to view, but I have to warn you ahead of time that it's extremely depressing and graphic. It was a trainwreck type situation for me in that I never wanted to see these images, but I couldn't look away. There are parts that detail how the horses are destroyed and the process that some individuals go through to save them.

In true Real Sports fashion it's a great story, but again very very very graphic and depressing. Choose whether you want to watch it wisely.....

A good number of people chimed in after the Derby in regards to Eight Belles and I wanted to share my thoughts in this spot. Overall, I thought NBC's coverage of the Derby was pretty good throughout the afternoon. Sure the Billy Bush stuff was a little dumb, and just like I did with FOX I question their use of the word "star", but overall I thought the network's coverage balanced both the fun of the Derby and the coverage of the race itself. Sadly, everything today boils down to how NBC handled the death of the second place finisher Eight Belles.

The question that everyone seems to be asking today is whether the horse's collapse and subsequent death should have been televised and covered more closely. NY Times' writer Richard Sandomir even went so far as to say that NBC wasn't prepared to cover the death and was scrambling to get anything to air. Having only eight cameras solely focused on specific horses (none on Eight Belles) might have aided in that line of thinking, but in the end I think we're all better off. According to NBC Producer Sam Flood's interview with USA Today the horse was "writhing" and the injury was "gruesome". If things were happening they way Flood described them then there's not a chance I would have ever wanted to see that. The reality is that families and children watch the Derby with regularity (I grew up watching it every year) and NBC made the correct call. I thought the varying emotions of those in the winner's circle and the reporting on Eight Belles provided enough of a story.

When death is involved, whether it be animal or human, I think we're all better off just getting reports from the people on-site rather than seeing the images on the screen. Of course that's just one man's opinion, feel free to leave yours in the comments.

Great synergy by NBC here by getting the best show on television to give their opinion on Horse Racing.....

A horse race with cars. Too funny. Enjoy the race everyone and while every celebrity on the planet is picking Colonel John...I'm still on the 10 horse.

Update: Well that was exciting up until they had to put a horse down for sustaining two broken legs. It's all fun and fancy hats until a horse has to be euthanized.

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

Last year, I tried my hand at using some logical analysis to predict the winner of the Kentucky Derby (I failed. Never use, "The horse has one eye!" as your number one reason for choosing a particular horse). This time around, I'll still pick a winner, but a much more reasonable method will be used: guesstimation.

Well, sort of. I actually looked at those two links below and picked a couple of my favorite names. Here we go (in order of finish - I think)...

1. Anak Nakal (50-1) - Means "mischievous child" in Indonesian. I've got one of those.
2. Eight Belles (10-1) - She's a lady horse. I'm all about Women's Lib.
3. Big Truck (40-1) - Gets his name from his sire, Hook and Ladder. My father was a firefighter for thirty years.
4. Denis of Cork (25-1) - I'm pretty sure at least part of my family came from County Cork, Ireland.

For the record, the overall favorites are Big Brown (2-1), Colonel John (4-1), and Pyro (5-1).

Twenty Reasons to bet Twenty Horses: 2008 Kentucky Derby (Joe Sports Fan)
What’s in a name? Lots for the 20 Derby horses (Yahoo! Sports)
Kentucky Derby Odds (gohorsebetting.com)

Just noticed that ESPN has predictions from several analysts:

Randy Moss: Big Brown
Bill Finley: Big Brown
Hank Goldberg: Colonel John
Jay Cronley: Pyro
Jay Privman: Colonel John
Jeremy Plonk: Colonel John

This might come as a surprise but I think ESPN's coverage of the Kentucky Derby is one of the best jobs they do all year. Sure they go overboard with coverage at times and it's rather goofy, but we're talking about a horse race where people where funny hats and Nick Lachey is an honored guest.

This year's ESPN coverage is going to be much of the same but there's a bonus for you Derby fans. Mike and Mike! They're going to be doing their radio show with special guest Kenny Mayne from the first turn.

Here's the rest of the schedule....

ESPN’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby will include the Kentucky Derby Draw on Wednesday, April 30, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 2, at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. Hosts Kenny Mayne and Rece Davis, analysts Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss and Jeannine Edwards, handicapper Hank Goldberg and reporters Jay Privman and Steve Cyphers will cover the stories, horses, jockeys, trainers and owners.

Wed., Apr 30

5 p.m.- Kentucky Derby Draw (ESPN2)

Thur., May 1

4:30 p.m.- Triple Crown Special (ESPN2)

Fri., May 2

3 p.m.- Today at Churchill Downs (ESPN2)
5 p.m.- Kentucky Oaks (ESPN2)

Sat., May 3

11 a.m.- Today at the Kentucky Derby (ESPN2)
Noon- Today at the Kentucky Derby (ESPN)
3 p.m.- The Kentucky Derby Special (ESPN)

NBC's coverage starts around 4pm and the weather looks like it's going to be good this year. Grab your funny hat, a mint julep, and make sure to bet your friends. AA is liking Colonel John.

(Via ESPN PR)

FOX has done it for the MLB All Star Game and the Super Bowl, but now NBC is going to copy the practice for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby this May. They'll also have a host comparable to Ryan Seacrest....

NBC Sports will add a half hour of coverage at the beginning of its traditional start of the Kentucky Derby telecast, featuring a Red Carpet Show presented by Head and Shoulders.

The Red Carpet Show will be hosted by Billy Bush of the NBC Universal-owned syndicated Hollywood magazine show Access Hollywood. The Red Carpet show will be part of the new Access at the Derby half hour, hosted by Bush, and will air at 4 p.m. on May 3. Bush will go behind-the-scenes at Derby parties, interview celebrities and show fashions. The Red Carpet Show will offer glimpses of celebrities arriving at Churchill Downs, site of the race.

I don't watch Access Hollywood but I've heard Billy Bush on the radio before and he's not THAT bad. Also, the Derby's Red Carpet will only be a half an hour long, so it won't be exactly like the 5 hour overkill of the Super Bowl one.

NBC Sports Adding to Derby Telecast (Media Week)

One day when the stars align and some lucky woman asks me to spend eternity with her (that's right she's proposing to me!)....this is how I'm going to celebrate....

That dive was just beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye actually.

Drunk, Naked Man Can't Outrun Horses (TSB)

I know I've got sense of humor of a 3rd grader sometimes, but this video cracked me up. Do you think the Racetrack Announcer had any idea?

When you're a new analyst ESPN has to trot you out on as many programs as possible. Like for example, Sean Salisbury. How many different ESPN shows have you seen him on since he joined the network...15 or so? Well the Leader is now taking it to an even bigger level.

They're asking their analysts to cover different sports. First up in the queue....Mr. William Parcells.

Bill Parcells will be ringside for ESPN's Friday Night Fights broadcast with host Joe Tessitore and analyst Teddy Atlas. The release states that Parcells plans to discuss his three passions in life Boxing (that's good because it's a boxing telecast), Football (understandable), and Horse Racing (Huh?).

So if you want to hear about Football and Horse Racing during a fight....tune in this Friday!

Don't know if anyone actually watched the Belmont Stakes over the weekend, but there was a pretty hilarious exchange with Chris Fowler and his viewers. Chris seemed to be getting upset about mistakes and people talking over each other on the broadcast when he finally said this going into commercial break....

"As you can tell, more announcers assigned than horses entered. We will have this Belmont field smothered from all angles."

Now you know how we feel! I love this aspect about every ESPN and non-ESPN telecast. My personal favorite was the twenty six reporters they had cover the Super Bowl even though it wasn't on their network.

Good job Chris.

(Brought to you by OMDQ, your best source for 24-hour late information)

Didn't have a chance to watch the Preakness yesterday, so I did a little catching up this afternoon. After viewing the video and reading a few recaps, I couldn't agree more with Dan Shanoff's take: the race itself was outstanding, but the fact that Curlin nosed out Street Sense takes away any impetus for casual racing fans to care about the Belmont.



One question: now that we're past the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, can we finally let go of Barbaro?

With any luck, Kentucky Derby victor Street Sense will win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in the coming weeks, becoming the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

Unfortunately, even if he does, a performance like this is probably out of the question:

powered by ODEO

Houston Radio host Lance Zierling giving his two-cents about the Texans. Too good.

(I forgot where I got this from. A link will be up in a few once my head starts working again)