How can the Breeders' Cup grow in the future andadapt to a changing industry and world? It is achallenge prominent owner and breeder Satish Sanan
took upon himself when he agreed to become thechairman of the Breeders' Cup's strategic planningcommittee. The primary goal of the committee is tolook beyond the present and to formulate plans andstrategies for the future of the series, something Sanan
said he felt the organization had failed to make apriority.
Sanan realized the first step had to be a thoroughexamination of the Breeders' Cup, the industry, thechallenges facing the sport and an objective look atwhat steps the event could take to grow beyond its
present format and to create new streams of revenue.
To accomplish that task, Sanan was instrumental in thehiring of Value Partners, a respected management
consulting firm with offices around the globe.
According to the company's website, the firm's clients"are successful companies with an international scope"and that Value Partners' strength is its ability to"provide analysis and methodological approach, andaccelerate decision-making and the implementation ofstrategies."
The project is headed for Value Partners by William
Field, an Oxford graduate and a British native. Field's
specialties include work with sports industries andteams. His clients have included the Union of European
Football Associations and the Premier League,
England's top football league. He has also worked withleading media companies on broadcasting and online
projects around the world.

Wild Again (rail) takes inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic Horsephotos

Value Partners began the project by sending adetailed and confidential, non-attributable questionnaire
to all Breeders' Cup trustees and board members, aswell as several other notable and influential people,
including persons both involved and not involved withthe horse racing industry.
The process also includes three workshops, the firstof which took place in February in Florida. There,interested parties could exchange ideas and air views
about the way the Breeders' Cup is being managed.
The final workshop, scheduled for early May, will
review Value Partners' conclusions andrecommendations for the Breeders' Cup's long-term
strategy.
A final report from Value Partners will be presented
to the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors and Trustees at
the July 2009 Board and Trustees meeting.
Recently, the Thoroughbred Daily News sat downwith Sanan and Field to gather their thoughts about the
on-going effort to take the Breeders' Cup into a new,even more successful era.
TDN: There seems to be a fear that the Breeders' Cup
has not properly focused on its future. Is that so andwhy is it so important for such a successful event tostart looking five or 10 years down the road?
Satish Sanan: I am afraid the fear is well-founded and I
tend to agree with it. I have been a member of theBoard of Directors and Trustees since 2003 and frankly
I have not seen a long-term business plan or a strategicplan. Until now, planning by the Breeders= Cup generallymeans an annual financial plan or budget and a highlevel marketing plan. We measure our performancecompared to annual budget and by the event related
metrics, and not by absolute growth and profitability.
Depending upon our financial performance, our current
capital reserves, and industry related issues, we change
our tactical strategy year to year. Given the current
industry environment and our capital reserves, we had
to change our plan a couple of times this year. Not
having a strategic plan does not allow us to make useof our capital reserves for strategic investments for the
long-term growth of the Breeders= Cup.
In my opinion, no organization or business can
succeed over the long-term without having a clearly
defined mission and a long-term strategy that supports
its stated mission. In addition, one must have sufficient
resources--capital, human and infrastructure--tosuccessfully execute that strategy.
The Breeders= Cup has come a long way in the last
25 years. It has some great assets, a great
championship event, an elite brand name, but until westarted this exercise last summer, the Breeders= Cup did
not have a long-term strategic plan. That is why the
Breeders= Cup Limited Board authorized me to lead thisimportant initiative--to put together a long-term
strategic plan that can take the changing industry
environment in to account, leverage our assets and lead
us successfully in to the next decade.

TDN: It's obvious that there's not a clear consensus
among Breeders' Cup management and stakeholders
considering many issues, most notably what is theoverall goal of the Breeders' Cup. How has that had anegative impact on the Breeders' Cup and, in youropinion, what are the major issues and factors people
disagree on?
Satish Sanan: I agree. The Breeders= Cup Limited
Board, the Trustees, the industry stakeholders and the
management have not agreed on the fundamental
mission and goals of the Breeders= Cup. I do believethat these goals were clearly defined at one time by thefounding members.
However, the event has
evolved over a period oftime. With a new andchanging Board of
Directors, new trustees
and new management
over the last few years,
we may have lost our way
a little bit. Clearly, thegoals must be to holdsome sort of racing seriesleading up to the world
championships, thus
creating more excitement,
attracting more fans,gamblers and owners andsupporting the breeding
Horsephotos
stock sales and ourindustry as whole.
I believe organizations must change with time andhave the flexibility to react to industry changes.
Unfortunately, in spite of some very good recent
successes, there continues to be a negative sentiment
about the Breeders= Cup. I believe that is because themanagement's actions are misunderstood byconstituents at large. This, I believe, is because of lackof communications and transparency, mistrust amongst
some trustees and poor governance. Major issues, inmy opinion, that need to be addressed are the election
process, the governance, the racing series, the stakes
program, internationalization of the Breeders= Cup and aserious lack of customer focus.
Once we have a strategic plan and address some of
the issues I just mentioned, then we can focus on the
future of the Breeders= Cup taking into account andtaking advantage of the recent industry changes likesimulcasting, ADWs, rebates, the Internet, etc. andexecute our plan with precision and accuracy.

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TDN: But some very important new measures havegone forward, such as the expansion of the Breeders'
Cup to a two-day event. Please elaborate on yourcontention that not enough progress has been made.
Satish Sanan: I do believe that, from a tactical and an
operations point of view, we have made a lot ofprogress over the last few years. Namely, theexpansion of the event to two days, an increase inpurses and handle last year and great advertising andpromotions leading to one of the best events we have
had in the history of the Breeders= Cup. However, as I
said earlier, in spite of these successes there continues
to be a negative sentiment and a negative perception
about the Breeders= Cup, its management and the Boardof Directors by the industry stakeholders. I believe a lotof our actions are misunderstood as we do notcommunicate openly and often enough. We must
address these issues.
We must be customer-focused, and that includes
gamblers and television viewers, and completelytransparent and relentless in the pursuit of our restatedgoals.
TDN: Should the Breeders' Cup focus on the overall
health of the industry or simply the overall health of the
Breeders' Cup itself?
William Field: You can explain a lot about the Breeders'
Cup by looking at its history. Twenty-five years ago it
was a really smart, insightful way of making a
difference in North American horse racing by creating
this end-of-the-season
championship event. I've
heard it described as an
exclamation mark to theseason. It has proven to bea tremendous success anda huge amount of credit
must go to the founding
fathers who set this up
from scratch. It is now aunique international
horseracing event. I know
there are people who willargue about whether the championships are quite what
they should be. But from an objective measure, theBreeders' Cup championship is a very successful event,certainly in the context of North American horse racing.
Lately, things have become tough for the industry.
Many of the tracks are struggling, a number of races
are being cut and it's harder to pull people into
racetracks or bring new and younger fans into thesport.
Relative to the marketplace, the Breeders' Cup has
looked ever more prosperous, ever more successful.
What that means is that the expectations of theindustry on the Breeders' Cup have grown.

W illiam Field, cont.

At the time the Breeders' Cup was created, I don't
think anybody would have necessarily predicted thatmany people in the industry would turn to the Breeders=
Cup and say, 'We expect you guys to solve all the
problems. We expect you to sort it out.' There's adebate as to whether the Breeders' Cup ever explicitly
took on any of that responsibility. I don't think thatwithin the Breeders' Cup there has ever been a proper
resolution of its role within the industry or its
responsibilities to the industry. These things have been
discussed, but they have never been resolved.
What that means is that when you get an issue likethe aborted cancellation of the stakes program you get
two bitterly opposed sides arguing about whether the
stakes program should be maintained or cut. One of the
problems with that is it is very unclear what the basis
for a decision on the stakes program should be. Who is
the Breeders' Cup supposed to benefit? What is it there
to do? Those are questions that need to be answered.
If the organization and the wider industry are unclear
about that fundamental question then there is aproblem. Any organization that has trouble deciding
fundamental questions of principle will find it very
difficult to doing anything other than make incremental
changes.
Satish Sanan: I believe we must focus on both. First,
we must put together a solid long-term strategic planthat takes into account the many issues that are
relevant to the Breeders= Cup. For example, declines inhandle, the movement of wagering dollars to the
ADWs, getting a share of the large international
simulcasting handle, and finding alternative revenue
streams. If we are successful at taking care of theseissues, we will be helping the industry indirectly
anyway.

Arazi winning the ‘91 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

Before we started our retreat in Florida, I did take thetime to speak to a number of industry leaders andfounding members to find out about the stated goals
and mission of the Breeders= Cup when it was started
25 years ago. Simply put, they were no different thanwhat I stated earlier--create a racing series and world
championships that creates excitement, attracts more
new owners and gamblers, and sells more horses andsupports the breeding industry.
When the Breeders= Cup was founded, our industry
was going through some very rough times. The
breeders and the industry needed support. It was a very
innovative and creative idea then and, frankly, it has
served its purpose very well. Our industry is going
through some very rough times again and we all need
to work together to reinvent our sport and the Breeders=Cup. I hope we do come up with some innovative andcreative ideas again to revive the sport of Thoroughbred
racing and ensure the long-term success of the
Breeders= Cup.
TDN: Realizing that you don't have all the answers yet,does any of this mean the Breeders' Cup should notnecessarily be concerned with the welfare of theindustry?
William Field: Not at all. There is now a realization
because of the difficult times there's no point in the
Breeders' Cup continuing to be a really nicewell-executed event while everything else in theindustry is struggling. Ultimately, the Breeders' Cup cankeep its head above water for only so long before thewave will consume it. There's no point being the star
attraction in a declining industry. It's not a great
long-term strategy. One of the things we are highly
likely to seek in this process--and I don't mean this as a
criticism of the management--is that the Breeders' Cup
will adopt what I call a less isolationist strategy and will
see itself working more closely with a broader crosssection of the industry. We need common action toreally turn around racing and wagering in particular. I
think a huge amount can be done, but you have to geta consensus about the way to go about it first. Thatmeans giving people the opportunity to speak and theopportunity to discuss issues.
This has been a very open and inclusive process-people have been generous with their time and people
have been keen to get involved. If it turns out that
there are views that haven't been aired that seek tostrike down conclusions in this report that haven't been
aired until it has been completed then I think somethinghas seriously gone wrong. Everybody who is part of the
Breeders' Cup and feels strongly about the Breeders'
Cup must not miss this opportunity to get involved in
the discussion because I think questions need to asked
if those views are not aired at this point in time.

TDN Q&A cont.
Horsephotos

TDN: One criticism that is often heard about theBreeders' Cup is that it has not done a good job when it
comes to communications. Is there a disconnect
between management and other key Breeders' Cup
figures and the stakeholders?
Satish Sanan: As I said earlier, in spite of our best
efforts, we have not done a very god job of openly
communicating to our stakeholders, the trustees andmembers at large on a regular basis. That includes what
we are doing, how we are doing it and what changes
we anticipate in the future and why. Over the last few
years, things have improved a great deal, but there is
still a tendency to be not fully transparent. The
communication has improved but not to a degree that isdesired by the membership at large.
TDN: Have the uncertainties surrounding the simple
question--what is the overall mission and purpose of the
Breeders' Cup--kept the event from growing or tapping
into new sources of revenue?
William Field: I think management of the Breeders' Cup
has done an excellent job on a tactical level ofdeveloping the Breeders' Cup as an event and ofbuilding international wagering revenues. Each year, it
manages to solve another little problem. What has been
missing is a longer-term perspective. Where are wetaking this event? No one has been able to answer thatquestion in a way that has
provided consistent direction forthe management of the
Breeders' Cup. The decision to
engage our firm is a very goodfirst step. I cannot guaranteethat we will solve all the
problems of the Breeders' Cup
and North American horse
racing, but I certainly think we
can make a lot of progress incracking some of the major
issues.
The starting point for this is tohave a very open and extensive
Breeders’ Cup Trophy
debate amongst the stakeholders
Horsephotosof the Breeders' Cup to find out
what it is they want to do with this thing and what
they think its ultimate purpose is. Until you've done
that, until you've resolved what the mission of thisorganization is, it is pointless to try to come up withstrategies. We have to grow and figure out what
success actually looks like. We spent a lot of time witha wide range of people involved in the Breeders' Cup
and people who are experts in the industry to try anddiscuss what the Breeders' Cup should be all about.
Does it have an obligation to the rest of the industry?
Should it just focus on what it does best? We are very
close to having some real consensus on what theBreeders' Cup is supposed to be about.

TDN: If you ask 10 people what the overall mission of
the Breeders' Cup should be, you will likely get 10
different answers. How, then, do you build consensus?
William Field: There are different views and some of thedivisions are political. But many of the disagreements
are often ones of language rather than fundamentals. If
you say the Breeders' Cup is to raise the profile ofracing and to generate interest and bring in wagering
dollars for the sport as a whole, then you have to put alimitation on that. The Breeders' Cup can't be
responsible for all of racing. It can't be responsible forthe way the tracks provide services to their spectators.
There are many things absolutely outside the control of
the Breeders' Cup. The Breeders' Cup has to work withwhat it can do. That means you have to focus on what
the Breeders' Cup is currently as two days of racing.
You can raise the profile of racing for a week or twooutside of the event, but you can't develop strategies
that systematically run across the calendar and promotehorse racing. If that's what you want to do then you
have to be a broader Breeders' Cup. You have toextend things like the Breeders' Cup challenge programor the stakes program and you have to have acoordinated strategy for doing just that.
TDN: When it's all said and done, will Value Partners
recommend major changes to the Breeders' Cup or will
it decide that the event merely needs to be tweaked?
William Field: It's got to be more than tweaking things.
There are some very big, bold, creative strategies andscenarios being discussed. It would be premature to
start speculating on exact recommendations that comeout of this, but I don't think anybody would say thatpeople haven't been thinking quite big in ways that theBreeders' Cup can evolve. Satish has led the way inwanting people to think laterally, creatively and boldly
about what the Breeders' Cup can be and I think that's
absolutely right. There's no point being timid about
this. The Breeders' Cup is facing issues that are
significant and some big solutions are required.
Satish Sanan: I think William is absolutely right. We
have come up with and discussed many bold andradical ideas. However, the success lies in its
implementation and execution. If the Board of Directors
and Trustees do not like the new ideas, or do not
approve them, then the planning effort is wasted. We
must change the way we conduct our business. We
need to listen to our constituents, change thegovernance and the management processes andempower management to make decisions. A poor plan
well executed is better than a great plan poorly
executed.

TDN Q&A cont.

TDN: Why do you think the Breeders' Cup as anorganization has struggled to formulate a strategy forthe future?
William Field: People have been stuck because no one
has been quite sure what the Breeders' Cup wants to
be. There are a lot of fundamentally good and smart
people involved with the Breeders' Cup and it's
important that we help them have a really clear visionof where exactly the Breeders' Cup can get to. In theabsence of a vision, anybody is going to struggle;
anybody is going to get stale and end up taking a rather
conservative view. If we can get people excited in a
way that is based on substance and get people fixed onsome really great outcomes, I think you could actuallygalvanize people. People will find themselves
rejuvenated and have a sense of common purpose,
something that has been lost over the years. There wascommon purpose at the beginning. Today, people aren't
sure where it is headed. Without that sense of forward
direction, it's impossible to do anything with anorganization.
TDN: Do you see the situation improving? Are people
starting to get on the same page?
William Field: Particularly with the session we had in
Lexington last week, there was a huge sense ofcommon purpose. Even people who have been very
critical of one another at workshops have made huge
strides in bridging those gaps. I have worked in manysports around the world and you always see
philosophical differences and personality clashes. In
horse racing, people passionately believe in theirindustry. The amounts of fundamental good will that I
see have been enormously encouraging. It's just that a
lot of people weren't sure where to go. I think if we
can change that and get some positive momentum
going then people will get really excited.

TDN: The key question seems to be: what should theprimary goals and objectives of the Breeders' Cup be?
Will Value Partners answer that or will Value Partners
simply provide the Breeders' Cup with some data andlet the Breeders' Cup answer the question itself?
William Field: It will be much more the former than thelatter. We're not going to say, 'Here's some
information, you guys go make up your minds.' We will
provide firm recommendations. We will be coming up
with ideas of our own and we'll also be using the many
interesting ideas coming out of these group sessions.
The big question--what the Breeders' Cup should be
and where it should be heading--there's no analyticalanswer to that. It's about what the stakeholders really
believe it should be. It will be about a combination oflistening to and working with this very interesting groupof people we've been involved with and helping toshape their views and facilitating the process ofbuilding a consensus. It will be a combination of us
drawing on the views and ideas of the stakeholders andus laying on top of that our own ideas. To make surethat anything we recommend has a reasonable chanceof being implemented, we will pull the whole process
together in a coherent way with a coherent report.
Satish Sanan: When the report from Value Partners
comes out, what I will be expecting is a strategic plan
and a restated mission, values and goals. Once the plan
is approved by the members of the Board and Trustees,
we then need to report to our members at large as toexactly what we intend to do and in as transparent amanner as possible. We will publish our approved planand periodically report progress against it.
TDN: It's apparent that many are not happy with themanner in which the Breeders' Cup is governed. If there
are problems in that area do they have anything to dowith the Breeders' Cup's apparent inability to define its
long-term mission?
William Field: The point about governance is an
important one. There are some very strongly held views
about the governance of the Breeders' Cup. For an
organization that isn't clear about where it is heading it
is very difficult to set a governance structure in placethat will work. As a result of the work we are doing,
there should be a much more coherent and solid basis
for reviewing governance than the Breeders' Cup has
had in a long while. I don't want to speculate about
what changes in governance could take place, but it's
very hard to get governance right when you don't know
where you are heading.

J Watch Out for “TDN Rising Stars” J
Stars of tomorrow grabbing the spotlight today...
The Breeders' Cup traveled outside the U.S. for the first time in ‘96 HP

TDN: Let's talk about your methodology. What do you
have to do to understand the industry, understand its
problems, get everyone's viewpoint and then tie it all
together in a manner that will benefit the Breeders'
Cup?
William Field: It's relatively straightforward. You've got
to start by understanding the range of views that
already exist within the organization. Because there issuch a wide range of viewpoints and so many different
voices, we spent a lot of time in workshops andinterviewing people. When our work is completed, we
will have talked to numerous important and influential
individuals from the North American and international
racing industries. We need to understand what peopleview as the core issues. By holding the workshops, weare helping everyone hear what other people are saying
and building a sense of common mission and vision. It's
not just about one-on-one dialogue with these people;
it's about starting an internal debate. That's been
relatively successful so far. Having listened to thestakeholders and having done our research, which
includes looking at statistics and data, we have tried toclarify the big picture. After defining what the big
picture is, we can say what has to be done to make thevision a reality.

There has to be some sort of metric system in place
to make sure you are progressing properly toward yourgoals.
One other thing we've discussed is that there's nopoint looking for quick fixes, particularly at this momentin time. If we are going to make some big changes
we've got to be prepared to let them take three or more
years to come about. The important thing is to know
you're moving in the right direction.
Satish Sanan: During, and as part of the planning
process, we identified 30-35 key industry stakeholders
both in North America and Europe. The list includes
major owners, breeders, race track operators or CEOs,
gamblers, media executives and sports marketing
executives. We wanted to speak to stakeholders who
have been both supportive and critical of the Breeders=
Cup to get a good sense of what we really need to do.
Once these interviews and the workshops are over,
Value Partners will present a preliminary draft report tothe members of the Board and to the Trustees for theirreview and approval. Once approved, the final plan will
be published and ready for execution. I am very hopefulthat something good is going to come out of thisplanning exercise.
TDN: What are most contentious issues that remainunresolved among the key participants in the Breeders'
Cup and how big a challenge will it be to get people toagree on these issues?

Hollywood Park before the inaugural Breeders’ Cup in ‘84

Horsephotos

Each of those initiatives may be unique to racing or
they may be similar to strategies we've seen in othersports. Then, obviously, for each of these initiatives wehave to test them and look at what would be required
to bring them about and what kind of resources would
be required. Access to finance may be important;access to skills and talent may be important. Anotherimportant factor is strategic alliances and potential joint
venture partners. It's important that the Breeders' Cuptries to break up its isolationist position and work witha wider group of people for the common good of theindustry.
One of the things that we will be doing is providing ameans of measurement. In other words, anyorganization that wants to have a sense of where it isheading and can accurately track its success whenreporting back to stakeholders must have some key
performance indicators. One of the things we will do isto set some indicators and metrics that are appropriate
for the strategic objectives.

William Field: Some of the big discussions revolvearound the idea of a series. On one extreme, you havepeople who strongly believe the two-day championshipevent sitting in splendid isolation at the end of thecalendar is enough. There are other people whostrongly believe there should be an integrated series
running throughout the calendar for each of the
Breeders' Cup divisions. There are views at both
extremes and then some people who are in the middle.
There is also a big discussion about the international
picture and the degree to which the Breeders' Cup cantake its brand beyond North America to cultivate someof the other major racing and wagering markets aroundthe world. There are some very interesting ideas
emerging on the internationalization question.

Condition Codes for Allowance Races
Code

Description

NW.......................
1-6........................
$...........................
R...........................
3M, 6M, 9M,
Y, Y+, L.................
X...........................

Non-Winner of...
Number of Races
Monetary Condition
Distance Condition
Time Period (ex: NW2L = NW 2 races lifetime)
Other-than Condition (ex: NW3X = non-winnersof 3 races other than maiden, claiming, or
statebred)

C...........................

Other Conditions Not Specified

TDN: In materials put together thus far by Value
Partners there is at least one statement that jumps off
the page. Under a section entitled "Major Industry
Issues," Value Partners writes: Our sport of horse
racing and gambling has been out-innovated andout-promoted by other sports competitors andentertainment activities, NACSAR and poker, forexample." Is this true of the Breeders' Cup?

What we need is a comprehensive plan for ourindustry and the sport of horse racing that is acceptedby all stakeholders. We will of course need the financial
resources, the human resources and state-of-the-art
technology to execute our plan. With those pieces inplace and with a good strategic plan, we then just needto make sure that we have the right management toexecute it.

William Field: Is it the Breeders' Cup that hasn't been
TDN: From the research you've done so far, what haveinnovative or is it the industry that hasn't been
been the biggest surprises?
innovative? The Breeders' Cup has done pretty well.
There are many things that management has done with
William Field: I'm not sure this is quite the answer you
the Breeders' Cup that represent positive, proactive
are looking for, but I've been quite surprised at a
steps. For instance, I thought the television coverage
number of things. Foremost is the passion that a vast
last year at Santa Anita was superb. I thought it set a
number of people have for the sport. People can
new benchmark of quality for television production of aseriously disagree with one another, but there is a
racing event.
willingness to listen to people and not demonize themBut there's no point in having the Breeders' Cup
as being crazy or evil. People think long and hard about
excelling while the rest of the industry is in decline. The
this industry, but they have had no strong basis forindustry has not done enough in terms of the quality oftrying to put a lot of those ideas into action. That's one
facilities at racetracks. I don't want to pre-judge theof the things I'm hoping we can change. I've found thisoutcome of what we are doing, but the Breeders' Cup
group of people very interesting and very positive andcan't carry on without playing a part in helping thethat should give people a fair degree of comfort andwider industry excel. The
confidence.
bigger question is just how
big a part the Breeders' Cup
TDN: What's thecan and should play,worst-case scenario? Whatparticularly given that nobody
will happen if the Breeders'has limitless financial
Cup does not take steps toresources. A realistic
ensure a bright future?
expectation has to be set.
The industry has absolutely
Satish Sanan: The Breeders'been out-innovated andCup cannot continue to rely
out-promoted by other sports
only upon the current three
and it's really hard to comestreams of revenue, namely
back from that, but you havethe foal nominations, stallion
to go to the heart of thosenominations and the revenue
problems if you want tofrom the event itself. As wechange anything. Otherwise,
all know, the nominations
you're just fiddling while
are down substantially andFrankie Dettori & Raven’s Pass take ‘08 BC Classic
Horsephotos wagering handle isRome burns.
continuing to decline. We
Satish Sanan: Horse racing has definitely been
once had $40 million in our capital reserves, which is
out-innovated and out-promoted by other sports. Look
now down to $25 million. With the exception of one
at NASCAR, poker, cricket in India and the Premier
year, we have not made money in a while and we have
League soccer in England, just to mention a few. Our
dipped into our capital reserves almost every year. If
industry is highly fragmented, we do not work together
the industry continues to struggle as it has in the past
and we have not made any significant investments inyear, which I predict will continue for the next couple
technology, new infrastucture or new managementof years, and the wagering handle continues to go
processes like most other sports and gambling
down, we are looking at the imminent demise of thebusinesses have done. Whether we like it or not, horse
Breeders' Cup as we know it today. So, we really haveracing is a gambling sport. If we had put a plan in place
two choices: One, either we can be bold and creative
10 or 15 years ago and the industry had really comeand move forward with some radical ideas being
together like we tried to with the Breeders' Cup and thediscussed as part of this strategic planning process and
NTRA with a league office, then we wouldn't have thecome up with a solid practical plan and execute itproblems we have today.
successfully or, two, we had better tighten our belts
I am a very optimistic guy and I still believe we canand put together a defensive strategy and figure out
how we are going to survive over the next few years.
reinvent and reinvigorate our sport of horse racing and
The choice is ours.
wagering.

William Field: Partly because of the industry, partly
because of the current recession, which won't be overquickly, if nothing is done the Breeders= Cup will haveto survive on a smaller basis. Ultimately, when an
organization starts getting smaller rather than bigger,that just exacerbates factionalism and all the issues
that are currently bubbling away now. This is not
something the Breeders' Cup can afford to let go
unsolved. This is a good time to be doing this, eventhough people may say there's a recession on and not a
lot of cash available. This is actually a good time to be
taking a bold move.
TDN: Satish said that the Breeders' Cup must find newrevenue streams. What are some of the possibilities?
William Field: This sport is funded by wagering. Eighty
to 90 percent of the answer is wagering, both
domestically and internationally. This takes us back toindustry-wide issues and not just Breeders' Cup-specificissues. There has to be a much better greater focus on
wagering and the customer. Currently, that is difficult
because on the supply-side level there is a lot offragmentation; a lot of different betting operators in themarketplace, a lot of different events, a lot of different
tracks, a lot of different state regulations. They can't be
swept away over night, but there has to be a greater
focus on the wagerer as a customer.
TDN: How about giving us a sneak preview. What willsome of Value Partners's recommendations be?
William Field: Any good journalist would be asking thatquestion and I would love to be able to give you asimple answer. The headline will be, focus on thewagerer. The key thing, which I think we are close toresolving, is where we want to head with the Breeders'Cup. It would be premature to speculate on thestrategies until that is resolved. Therefore, it is difficult
for me to give you specific answers. But it's going to
be about the wagerer. It's going to be about thewagerer in North America and the wagererinternationally.
It's also absolutely going to be about quality. The
Breeders' Cup is an elite international sporting event. It
is in that select group of key events on the international
horse racing calendar and everything we do mustemphasize the sense of quality that already exists with
the Breeders' Cup. For example, if one of the brandfundamentals of the Breeders' Cup is quality of
excellence and if you are talking about some sort ofinternational event or some sort of enhanced series,
you've got to be able to transfer that same sense of
excellence and quality to any new event. Once you
devalue a brand like this, you are in big trouble. That
will rule out some of the ideas that have been coming
through.

TDN: Wrapping things up, are you optimistic that thiswill work, that the Breeders' Cup will be refocused andre-energized and will be more successful than ever inthe future?
Satish Sanan: As I said earlier, I am a very optimistic
individual and I am very optimistic about the outcomeof this planning process and of our future. Frankly, I
was a little apprehensive going into this planning
process, but as the process evolved and as I saw thesolid support we were receiving from everyone
involved, it makes me feel very bullish about our future.
I do believe that we will have a comprehensive plan topresent to our stakeholders. I also believe that there isnothing that we as a group cannot accomplish. We
have to, and we must work together for the good of
the Breeders= Cup. I feel the same way about theThoroughbred industry as a whole. I wish the various
constituents of our industry would stop the infighting
and get together for the common cause. Our industry
needs that right now. My personal vision for the
Breeders' Cup is a $100-million championship day ordays of racing and an international racing series leading
up to it. I foresee a global, international event withcreative and innovative wagering and simulcasting
options for the gamblers. I think we can do it.
Comments? Please send them to TDN management at
suefinley@thoroughbreddailynews.com.