NBC Already Being Made the Fall Guy for Likely Haskell Horror Show

A heat warning has been put in place for Central New Jersey Saturday afternoon with temperatures expected to feel like 110.  All other race venues along the East Coast have cancelled their events for the weekend, leaving only the Haskell at Monmouth Park.

The reason:  This one is going to be nationally broadcast.

Of course, they might be regretting that decision should horses start dropping from heat exhaustion.

There are races before this one so we could see the affects prior to the Haskell, which would really result in a precarious situation where they may have no other choice but to cancel the main event regardless.

One would have to think NBC execs are starting to get a little worried regarding the ramifications.

After all, an aspect of the protocol Monmouth Racetrack is implemented is to have extra doctors on hand in case of emergencies....involving people.

Dennis Drazin who is with Operations at Monmouth Park told me the biggest factor for not moving the Haskell Invitational from Saturday to say Monday or Tuesday after the heat wave breaks is that it’s being nationally televised on NBC... #HorseRacing

— Jennifer X. Williams (@JenXperience) July 19, 2019

Probably some of the nuttiest things we have seen thus far is people put in charge of reporting on the Haskill Invitation, perhaps beholden to the horse racing powers-that-be, discussing the upcoming race without making much mention of the heat, perhaps knowing in the back of their minds that this could prove disastrous should cooler heads not prevail (no pun intended).

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com