Belmont Ratings down 22%
 

22% is a huge drop. I cant say I am totally surprised. I thought maybe a 10-15% drop but not 22%. The good thing to this is in 2000 the rating was a 3.1 and in 2006 it was 3.8.

Here is a link to the article in bloodhorse:

http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=33989

Yeah, a drop is not surprising at all.. but that's a pretty big drop! Shows that the general public is not interested without a triple Crown attempt or at least a big name horse in the Belmont.

I dont think this much of surprise. Nothing on the line, the Barbaro accident a few weeks previous and dont discount the change of networks. The Belmont had been on NBC for years and was back on ABC for the first time since 2000.

That was expected..

A dip in the ratings was expected but not a 22% decline. That is a little steep.

i dont think its so steep considering the belmont was like a ALW race LOL!

The Belmont has zero appeal to the average person without a TC shot.

The Belmont is really an irrelevant race on the American racing scene if there is no attempt at the crown. Ok, I know it's still a classic, but are there any other 12f races still carded on dirt in the US? The breeding industry is dominated by milers and speedsters with little or no demand for true stayers, so winning the Belmont will do little to add to a horses's potential stud value, and that's what drives the game at the G1 level.