History says Jockey Club TV series destined to fail

The Jockey Club organization has announced it will commit $10 million over the next five years to support recommendations made by the McKinsey & Company consulting firm regarding the promotion of horse racing. The plans include a network television series, a social networking game and a mock wagering Internet website.

Using social networking is fine. A mock racing game, like free-to-play poker, is fine, too. The part that hurts my head is the television series.

Anyone who has followed horse racing history over the past 50 years knows the importance of live broadcasting. For example, my first taste of horse racing was as a kid watching “Racing From Aqueduct,” hosted by the inimitable duo of Win Elliot and Sam Renick on WOR-TV in New York.

The McKinsey report said racing needs a greater presence on TV. Well, a smart fellow named Jim Wilburn figured that out in the early 1980s and didn’t need to spend a ton of money doing so. He and Chris Lincoln started Winner Communications and, in conjunction with a fledgling ESPN, began showing live horse racing from coast to coast.

Eventually the brand new National Thoroughbred Racing Association purchased Winner’s racing assets and tried to keep the program “Racing Across America” going. Things went south quickly from there until we have the current state.

Good ideas have surfaced in the interim. Barry Weisbord in 1991 launched the American Championship Racing Series. What Weisbord did was nothing short of a miracle. Somehow he got egotistical track owners to act as one and got all the ACRS races shown on ABC Sports. It was a great concept, but soon Weisbord got shoved aside, and the tracks themselves ended up ruining a good thing.

And what about the thousands of hours broadcast on TVG and HRTV? Are we to be told their market penetration doesn’t amount to much? There is a lot to work with if TVG and HRTV are included as part of the solution. Bottom line, we don’t need to keep reinventing the wheel every decade.

■ TREASURE ISLAND CONTEST — The Wager and Win tournament at Treasure Island is today and Saturday. The entry fee is $1,000, but three valuable seats to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship are up for grabs. The NHC is in January and also will be held at TI.

■ PICK THE PONIES — The popular Pick The Ponies tournament series continues at the Las Vegas Hilton from Thursday through Aug. 27. Entries are capped at 200. There is a daily prize pool, and all entry fees are returned as prize money.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.