The second little slice of excitement is about Derby Day, and especially about the fact that Management has issued a decree that there shall be no populating, get this; The Far Turn. Not my Far Turn, but the actual far turn as in the picture on my home page (which may be changing soon if I remodel and add content as I intend to so you better read this and look now).
I was sitting on one of the benches outside the Rec Hall the day before yesterday and one of the trainers mentioned that new directive with minor outrage...por supuesto! Who does not populate the far turn on a big race day?
We do, the ractrackers. So who does is the reason for the order to de-populate. They don't want us in the way of the cameras.
So this Trainer and I agreed; what a backward idea! Whoever heard of DE-POPULATING a racetrack on the Biggeest Racing Day of the year? Does the Management of Mountaineer ever watch the Kentucky Derby?
They ought to be advertising "STANDING ROOM ONLY...SEATING WILL BE HARD TO FIND...MOUNTAINEER HIRING EXTRA SECURITY TO HANDLE THE FLOOD OF EXPECTED GUESTS FOR THE 30-WHATEVER-th RUNNING OF THE WEST VIRGINIA DERBY." But what do they do? they want everyone "out of the way of the cameras" for the races.
Where in the hell is Marketing? Taking a holiday? They should invite every man woman and child in the county to come picnic on the lawn! They should take those empty shuttle busses, pick them up and deliver them here -- and feed them free hot dogs for God's sake...make this a party nobody will ever forget! Because if the cameras film an empty infield and an empty far turn and an empty backstretch, it'll be emptier next year.
Show the world just who the Top of West Virginia is. Everybody loves to make fun of hillbillies. What do you do? DRESS UP LIKE HILLBILLIES and give them what they want! Give them signs like "Devoted PANhandler" and We're here for the family re-yuns'-ion." Bring in a genuine jug band (even if you have to go to Memphis to find one)- make Racing talk about the West Virginia Derby for weeks.
If I were the boss here, I'd take it out of my own pockets to STIMULATE THE ECONOMY!
This may seem like I'm joking, but I have an important point to make. Spending does stimulate the economy, and if you spend in the right places you 'll win. We started running the Derby again some years ago and we paid Bob Baffert to come in and so on...to appeal to the snotty people. That was taken by the Media for exactly what it was (especially when we had to wait 45 extra minutes for his rider - or Dickie Small's rider or whoever's rider it was - to get there from teh Airport); We're a bunch of hillbillies trying to apear classy.
Now every once in a while we get some big name in here, like this year we supposedly have Mine That Bird. The people who run these establishments focus on the big names in the hope that it will yeild the greatest dollars. That's costlier than just paying the locals to have a great time. Once it becomes a staple on everyone's calendar, like Jamboree in the Hills, the huge numbers will show up out of tradition, and make more and more fantastic contributions...jug bands, overalls, Deliverance teeth and the whole nine yards, for a chance to get in the picture.
Then when Marketing lets it slip that it would be really cool if "Conquerator" were to run in the West Virginia Derby, Conquerator's trainer won't be saying "show me the money". He or she will be saying "line me up for some o' that West Virginia MOONSHINE!" And the Conquerators will come.
I'm just saying it would be easier and better in the long run to generate a self-sustaining marketing tool. And I'm not even a Marketer, but I know what made me love racing, and it sure wasn't the sterile, squeaky-clean appearance of a track or a squeaky-clean product.
Before I sign off, I want to acknowledge that even though I've been a racetraker most of my life and that gives me a license to spew out whatever I think is best because obviously we all think we know what's best for racing, that doesn't mean I'm correct or right. It means I have an opinion, and opinions, even when they have some sujectively hand-drawn evidence to back them up, are still only opinions, worth no more than the next one. So take what I say with a grain of salt.
It's just as likely that Mountaineer Park Management knows far more then I do about how to handle the kinds of things I can only opine about. Everything I say here I say with all due respect. My intention in bringing up the issue is only to give me a chance to share in having our establishment be wildy popular. I want others to love this place as much as I do, so it's only natural for me to want my ideas to be heard.
