There is a narrative that the Thoroughbred industry is in decline. But if recent viewership numbers of Triple Crown races are any indication, that narrative is wrong.
Just as the Kentucky Derby (G1) has seen growth for four straight years and the Preakness Stakes (G1) has two consecutive increases, on June 6, the Belmont Stakes (G1) will look to match the middle jewel’s streak.
The job of putting forth the best presentation possible falls on FOX, which is in its fourth year of broadcasting the Belmont Stakes.
One of the ways FOX seeks to appeal to fans of the sport, new and old, is through different presentations. Think “Monday Night Football” with the straightforward play-by-play, as well as the more casual “Manningcast” on ESPN.
Pete Macheska is a multiple Emmy-winning producer for FOX. He is working as a consultant for this weekend’s broadcast.
“FOX’s philosophy is we do a simulcast show on FS1, and it’s on FS2, also,” he said. “Some of the days where we’re getting more in depth to the horse racing fan, if you want to speak to the guys that watch every day, or like me, that’s a player, and I enjoy the horses. But this program, the one on FOX, is more for the casual horse racing fans for the Belmont, while the other one is simulcast, and they will get more down and dirty—you know who’s going to win and why; (FOX’s broadcast) is more entertainment.”
Saturday’s presentation of the Belmont will be led by executive producer Bill Richards, known for his work on the “FOX NFL Sunday” pregame show, and director Bryan Lilley. But it will also include talent from other FOX Sports entities such as Curt Menefee, Charissa Thompson, and Tom Rinaldi; and those who viewers are accustomed to seeing when they tune into FOX’s racing coverage throughout the year such as Maggie Wolfendale, Jonathon Kinchen, Richard Migliore, Greg Wolf, Laffit Pincay III, Andy Serling, and Tom Amoss.
Among the features FOX has lined up Saturday: Rinaldi sits down with jockey Dylan Davis, who rides Ottinho in the Belmont Stakes, an interview that Macheska described as emotional; Thompson speaks with Cherie DeVaux, the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby and who seeks to become the second woman to win the Belmont; and a look at the relationship between brothers and jockeys Jose and Irad Ortiz. Barstool Sports founder and Thoroughbred owner Dave Portnoy will also contribute to the broadcast.
READ: Davis Back in the Saddle After Serious Injuries
Macheska believes the broadcast will always evolve, and part of that evolution involves incorporating new and different technology.
FOX will use ARRI cameras on set at Saratoga Race Course. These cameras debuted for FOX at last month’s Indianapolis 500 and have the ability for a shallow depth of field and to enrich colors for viewers. FOX will also deploy an additional drone.
These will allow FOX to more vividly tell the story of the 158th Belmont Stakes. Each Triple Crown race brings its own uniqueness to the story of Thoroughbred racing. And with the race ending its three-year run in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and returning to a new Belmont Park in 2027, it has provided different lessons.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
FOX Sports’ logo can be seen around Saratoga Race Course
“Saratoga is a special place, if you love horse racing. It’s a place you have to visit,” Macheska said. “They have the Hall of Fame here. … We’ve tried to capture the pageantry of Saratoga, so that’s different than when we go back to Belmont.
“Next year, when we go back to Belmont, it’s going to be a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility. So I think that’s going to be really exciting. We found out things like, ‘New York, New York,’ when we perform that here, it doesn’t mean as much. It’s not New York City, where in New York City, (crowds) sort of get into it. (In Saratoga), it was like we were sort of shocked that, ‘Oh, maybe nobody sings along.'”
Over the last decade, each Triple Crown race has seen some measure of decline relative to its historic performance. But they have all been on an upswing of late.
The Belmont Stakes reached a peak of 12.7 million viewers in 2018 when Justify completed the last Triple Crown. Just two years later, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had 3.3 million viewers. The numbers over the final two years on NBC were very consistent at or near 4.5 million viewers, followed by the first year on FOX (2023) at 3.8 million viewers. After dropping to 3.66 million two years ago, it showed resilience with a nearly 5% improvement. With another competitive field lined up this year, there’s optimism for further growth.
“I’m a horse racing fan,” Macheska said. “I think a lot more people are interested in horse racing than what the public believes or what the industry (believes). We always seem to take a negative approach, but when there’s over $100 million bet on Preakness day, like that’s just not all CAWs, that’s got to be actual people that don’t follow horses and have put bets in just because hey, it’s on, or hey, it’s Preakness day, and I think that’ll happen in the Belmont as well.”
A change that has been implemented around Triple Crown weekends is moving the post times for high-profile races to later times to try capitalizing on primetime viewership. This proved a success when Churchill Downs Inc. shifted the time for this year’s Kentucky Oaks (G1). Bumping the Belmont post time is impractical as FOX uses the race as a lead-in for Red Sox-Yankees, one of Major League Baseball’s biggest rivalries, for the second straight year.
But there is already speculation on future changes, whether that is changing race dates to space out Triple Crown races or even different broadcasters with media rights for the Preakness set to be settled this summer.
“Everything’s changed, every sport has changed, but if I owned a horse, I would be thrilled if I won the Derby, Preakness, or the Belmont, like these are classic races, but that’s not everybody’s priority,” Macheska said.
Whatever those changes ultimately turn out to be, there will always be plenty of conjecture as to whether the broadcast of these tentpole events is considered a success.
In the days following the Belmont Stakes, both the content and the analytic performance will be dissected.
“Is it a good race? Is it a close race? Is it a historical race? That runs the show in anything,” Macheska said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the NBA Finals, World Series, Super Bowl. … But there’s a lot of people that do a lot of work on these features, and Bill’s putting together a format, and you want it to mesh together, so it’s just how smooth it goes, but it all depends on the outcome of the race.”
FOX will have Belmont Stakes coverage from 3-7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, while coverage from 10:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. Saturday will be split between FS1 and FS2.
BELMONT STAKES VIEWERSHIP BY YEAR
YEAR
VIEWERS
NETWORK
2025
3.83 million
FOX/FS1
2024
3.66 million
FOX/FS1
2023
3.8 million
FOX
2022
4.7 million
NBC
2021
4.5 million
NBC
2020
3.3 million
NBC
2019
4.9 million
NBC
2018
12.7 million
NBC
2017
4.9 million
NBC
2016
5.8 million
NBC
