With the Belmont stakes coming up this weekend and California Chrome striving to be the first Triple Crown winner in recent years it has made me think about why people put so much hype around a sporting event that last two to three minutes at most. On the day of the Kentucky Derby there was hours on end of TV time taking up solely for broadcasting pre-race, during race and post race coverage. If stations are willing to take up this much time then the races must be bringing in a substantial amount of viewers.When I think of horse racing the first thing that comes to mind is gambling. And as I try to piece together why the two go hand and hand all that I can find is that people needed an added thrill so that they could love the sport of horse racing. Yes, there are amazing comebacks. Yes, there are underdogs. And yes, sometimes there is devastation during races but horse racing is not all that exciting until you have some of your own money riding on those horses. Is it American culture that gives us the thrill of gambling or is it just part of being a human being?
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