Sanan A Sextant For The Cup

I have been quite distressed and critical of how the Breeders' Cup has changed direction, lost vision and now worked it's way into financial peril. But today for the first time in years I'm hopeful that things can get set back on a track that makes sense. Satish Sanan seems to be leading the revolution of common sense and I'm hopeful that the plan he has come up with sets the Breeders' Cup on a good path again. I've included an excerpt of a Bloodhorse article below that outlines my reasons for optimism.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/51555/breeders-cup-recommendations-on-table

"Since Breeders’ Cup was formed 25 years ago, Sanan said the organization has slowly lost sight of its mission and vision. His committee will reveal what it believes that mission to be and how the organization should re-grasp it. Sanan also said the Breeders’ Cup brand had become “diluted” with all its different programs and sponsored races.

“People can’t differentiate between the different series,” he said. “They overlap. Our brand name needs to be clear. We have worked hard to come up with some recommendations that would allow us to have a very simple competition across the seasons that leads up to the championship days and has a single focus and mission rather than all these different things we’ve got going.”

Sanan’s committee has come up with a plan whereby three or four key tracks that meet a certain set of criteria would agree to partner with Breeders’ Cup and host the World Championships on a long-term basis. Sanan also said Breeders’ Cup needs to better define its customer base.

“If you talk to the big gamblers that bet a half-million dollars on Breeders’ Cup day, they will tell you that we put on the show for ourselves,” Sanan said. “We don’t pay attention to our fans or the average people who show up at Belmont or Santa Anita or Churchill every day."

The Breeders' Cup will hopefully get some new leadership today and that leadership will hopefully get this vessel back on course. The Breeders' Cup is the best thing the sport of horse racing has. It has to be well managed.

For years now Avioli and Land have been talking about new visions and directions but for once we have someone in power pointing out the fact that the true vision of the Breeders' Cup has been lost and that the desires of the fans are being ignored.

I'm sure things won't turn out exactly as I envision in my mind but I know my vision is not always the right one. I'm pleased that they're taking some action and if nothing else it seems as if the right intentions are returning to the Breeders' Cup. That's something to be pleased about.