Flatter: Imagine possibilities for coverage of overlapping races

Scott Hanson, where were you when we really needed you at 7:05 p.m. EDT on Thursday?

Before you get into that every-touchdown-from-every-game business in nine days, how about taking a dip into horse racing? Because it can get pretty intense around this game.

Imagine your excitement if you had been in your Red Zone studio watching the opening-day finale start right on time at Kentucky Downs. Suddenly, the producer gets in your ear.

“Scott, they’re finally loaded for the fifth at Del Mar. Get ready for the double box.”

I can hear it now from Hanson, with that crackle of eager anticipation and the hint of a Tony Calo growl in his voice.

“The 7 o’clock is about to go off five minutes late at Del Mar. Let’s go to the double box now as they crest the hill at Kentucky Downs. At Del Mar they’re off in the fifth race. Back in Kentucky, José Ortiz and Western Run are maintaining their lead approaching the half-mile pole. In California, Dragon Kat and Armando Aguilar have the early advantage among these 2-year-old fillies. And you’re watching it all on Horse Racing Red Zone.”

Hanson gets a cue that it is too hard to see 22 horses in two races at the same time.

“We’re going full screen to Kentucky Downs now. We’ll keep an eye on what’s happening at Del Mar for you. You won’t miss a thing here on Horse Racing Red Zone.”

As we watch Western Run maintaining his lead, Montador is moving past Eleven Bravo into second as the field goes behind a tree. Because view-blocking trees are so important in horse racing, the NFL is thinking of planting maples and date palms in the middle of its stadiums. The NBA is talking about potted scheffleras.

“While you’re watching Kentucky Downs, I can tell you Dragon Kat and Little Tinker Elle have put four lengths between themselves and the rest of the field at Del Mar,” Hanson says. “It looks like the first quarter there went in 21 3/5 seconds. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you updated here on Horse Racing Red Zone.”

Now our eyes are irresistibly chasing the field into the false straight at Kentucky Downs thanks to that new camera on a string.

“How great is this? We cannot tear our eyes away from that view,” Hanson says. “And look at Montador. Brian Hernandez Jr. is about to pass Western Run. It looks like he is going to win. Let’s switch back to Del Mar. If something changes at Kentucky Downs, we will have it for you right here on Horse Racing Red Zone.”

With the whoosh of a logo through the middle of the screen, we find ourselves at the junction of turf and surf again. And Hanson does not miss a beat.

“Dragon Kat’s lead is withering away. Look at Mashie Niblick rally down the middle of the track. And now Fourlynnes has made an even wider move from last place and into contention at Del Mar. I can tell you back at Kentucky Downs, Montador ran on to win by about three. We’ll show you that finish in a minute. But Fourlynnes with Adrian Escobedo and Mashie Niblick with Ruben Silvera are going to finish one-two at Del Mar. What an exciting two-minute drill, and you saw it here on Horse Racing Red Zone.”

Forget the common-sense complaining about races going off at the same time or, in this case, 33 seconds apart. Just look at the excitement we are missing by not applying the NFL’s big hit to our game.

But no adjustment of your FanDuel TV is necessary. Yes, the folks there have been doing this for more than a quarter-century. Frankly, they invented Red Zone long before the NFL. Hanson was doing local TV sports in Tampa town the first time the old TVG had to split a screen.

Races still vexingly overlap one another. Absent the application of smart thinking, we will be stuck with this phenomenon eternally. Or least until enough racetracks close that there can be no overlap.

We have gone through five changes of presidents, from a queen to a king in England, from cable to satellite dishes to streaming, from email to Twitter to X and Bluesky, from CDs to iPods to earbuds, even from soaring spaceships to grounded airplanes. Yet we still have races starting at the same time.

At least our sport is honest about it. There is a little-known secret about NFL Red Zone. It is not always live. Those sudden, 65-yard touchdown runs that miraculously were forecast by the button pushers in that Hollywood studio actually happened a few seconds earlier. Don’t believe it? Just watch how the live scores on apps somehow predict the future on TV.

It is even worse in golf, where nearly every shot is delayed a few or more seconds, at least until the final holes for the final groups have the whole spotlight. Ever wonder why we seldom wait for a player to waggle his club a few times before striking the ball? DVR technology allows TV producers to show all these shots without much dead time in between.

We never could afford to delay things in racing. Bad enough that when we are at the track, we see the odds change after the gates open.

Before the chorus of calls for a racing commissioner who may or may not be named Repole and who may or may not be able to get tracks to quit racing on top of one another, the solution might be easier. Hire Billy Rapaport.

With a long history of legwork for practically every network, Rapaport is a field producer who has worked trackside while armed with a loud, insistent voice. He famously would yell for interlopers to get out of the way of cameras while keeping things moving for any given telecast of a big race day. Rapaport is a no-nonsense liaison between producers in the truck and everyone from the paddock to the gate to the winner’s circle.

Whenever horses are seen circling multiple times behind the gate before a Triple Crown race or at the Breeders’ Cup, rest assured that someone from the network has ordered the starter to hold the race until TV is ready. That someone may or may not be Rapaport, but he represents the fraternity of field producers. Whenever horses take forever before they are cued to load, I always call it the Rapaport circle.

God forbid that post-time drag becomes a preferred solution, but maybe someone like Rapaport could wedge himself into the process. Don’t ask. Just do it. Isn’t this a simple matter of getting on the phone and yelling at a starter to hold a race for a minute? Commissioner Repole ought not be bothered with this detail.

Messrs. Nicholson at Kentucky Downs and Rubinstein at Del Mar only need to talk to one another. I am sure they swapped phone numbers at a symposium or round table somewhere.

Speaking of which, it was last month at The Jockey Club’s annual round table on matters blah-blah-blah where a company called Fastbreak AI presented evidence that handle drops 3% for races which overlap. That was followed by a pitch for its post-time software program. Yeah, just like the 600th new timing system at Kentucky Downs was supposed to cure things. That did not work so well Thursday. How about the proven method of watching horses pass a pole, start the watch, watch them cross the finish line, stop the watch? Nah. Too reliable.

To make this long story endless, pay Billy Rapaport to browbeat tracks into sensibly separated post times for their races, give him all the phone numbers he needs to make clarion calls to head starters, and watch a miracle happen.

Now if someone can convince me that overlapping races will drive computer players’ software into a collective coma, we might have to start over here.

Ron Flatter’s column appears Friday mornings at Horse Racing Nation. Comments below and at RonFlatterRacingPod@gmail.com are welcomed, encouraged and may be used in the feedback segment of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod, which also is posted every Friday.