One of my 10-cent observations about the thoroughbred industry and the NHC is a lack of mainstream publicity (a good thing if the industry wants to continue to fly under the radar, rather than creating a World Poker Tour-style venue replete with regular TV appearances) and sporadic formal horseplayer education. Addressing the latter, the first of 40 "Night School" fan education series last night was a nice springboard to interest new players about the game while helping experienced players at the same time.
I and evidently 2,200 others sat through last night's 90-minute web chat at Horse Player Now, and it was worthwhile. Obviously, the effort took a lot of coordination, so kudos to the site for running relatively without glitches. The forum was pretty broad-based and served as a test-run for more-specific topics about the industry and handicapping, as evidenced by next Monday night's focus on Handicapping For Class. The forum, much like last night's, is scheduled to run from 8:30-10 p.m. ET.
The only recommendation I have is to reduce the number of panelists; last night, there were five top-notch experts, including Jill Byrne of Churchill Downs and Jim Miller of Hawthorne Park, but I sensed that each was constrained a bit in the amount of commentary they could provide and all might be better served with fewer experts at once and more of a focus on a select guest for the particular discussion. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful endeavor that I intend to attend on a weekly basis.
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