For NBC, the Kentucky Derby was the best of times and the worst of times. They did a wonderful job covering the impressive win of Big Brown and caught flack for their coverage — or lack thereof — of the death of Eight Belles.
This was not the case Saturday at the Preakness, where the network proved that they were on top of their game for thoroughbred racing coverage.
Saturday afternoon at 4:30, producer Sam Flood and host Bob Costas addressed the issues of “The State of Horseracing in America.” It was Costas at his best, hosting a round-table discussion on the death of Eight Belles and then on the many issues facing the industry as a whole. The panel of Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones, NBC’s horse racing analyst Gary Stevens, Churchill Downs veterinarian Larry Bramlage, NTRA CEO Alex Waldrop and veteran New York Times columnist William Rhoden had a spirited debate on the issues and while they did not solve any problems, they certainly advanced the discussion.
At 5, the race coverage began and every possible angle of Big Brown was covered by Costas, Tom Hammond and two-time Preakness winner Stevens.
Stevens showed his knowledge by describing, prior to the race, what track Big Brown would have to travel to win the race. He pointed out that Big Brown had to avoid the problems of being caught in the tight first turn at Pimilico and then hang around either third or forth place while traveling down the backstretch and then turn it on as Big Brown rounded the post and headed for home.
That was the course that jockey Kent Desormeaux took to winning the 133rd Preakness.
Director David Michaels (Al’s brother) did a great job of covering the prerace activities and made Old Hill Top hill look like a million dollars.
Once the race began, Michaels did not miss a single shot of Big Brown’s impressive Preakness victory. I also loved the replay of the race from the blimp — it really showed all the moves that made Big Brown on his way to the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
When I asked Flood about NBC now handing the Triple Crown coverage over to ABC, who will broadcast the Belmont, he said “I won’t lie I wished that we had all three races. But in the end we want to do what is best for the sport and we about how we have taken this great story about Big Brown two thirds of the way home. Now we will all watch and see if history is made at Belmont.”
We can thank NBC for making Pimlico look like a real jewel in racing’s Triple Crown. Let’s hope that it is here for many years to come and we are not watching The Preakness from Delaware, Florida or California in the future.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on www.examiner.com.
