They rode Greyhound to the race while Mine that Bird ran tethered behind a '57 Chevy, hadn't you heard?

That's illegal in most states. They couldn't tell that story on the news, so I guess they made up the Greyhound one.

While it's a small sample, everyone at the barn I ride at was talking about it and no one is an actual racing fan.

The kids wont notice this horse unless he goes on to win the Preakness. Then TC fever will hit and this horse will get some real publicity. Then they will probably start with the toys (such as beanie babies) that will get the kids involved and rooting for the horse.
But until then, everyone thinks it's a waste of time and money to promote this horse and things associated with him.

No responsible parent would expose their child to such a fraud of a Derby winner

Maybe a Kool Aide stand is appropiate, since believing that this horse has anyshot at winning the Preakness is Jim Jones like..

I think that's due to the fact that many occasional fans do not have the ability to bet from home. It takes a lot more effort to head out to the local OTB or track to place a bet than it does to watch the coverage.

Maybe the increased ratings are "leading" the action. If people enjoy watching triple crown coverage and the ratings go up, at least some will go through the effort to get a bet in.

The viewership can feed the betting and vice versa, as in the "World Series of Poker"

Most kids don't even know who Seattle Slew is....but they will remember a horse that's in their own lifetime, if they watched Mine That Bird

There is only one logical reason why the ratings were up so much...

nothing else was on?

They wanted to see what Scav was wearing?

Obama!!!

I assume timmgirvan already blamed him for I Want Revenge's injury and the sloppy track.

Hate to say it, but I think increased ratings were because of what happened to Eight Belles and Barbaro. Something emotional and terrible happens that's talked about around the water cooler, people want to see it first hand.

Luckily, instead this year they saw a feel-good "anyman" story, Borel crying for missing his momma and daddy, a pair of cowboys doing good, etc.

Why Not? Wasn't it George Bush's fault that a hurricane hit New Orleans?

So using this theory the Derby rating next year will be terrible due to no mishaps?

If it is, that would be very scary (as a valid explaination of why people tuned in).

But, all my non-racing friends know about Barbaro, and what happened to Eight Belles ...

My oh my, hell has frozen over, horse racing makes the cover of Sports Illustrated, and it's for a good thing ...

www.ntra.com