More than 3,000 registered viewers from 38 countries watched Zenyatta remain undefeated in 17 starts in the grade I Vanity Handicap during a live webcast, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association said.
Officials said they hope it leads to more exposure of racing through the Internet.
Countries represented in the June 13 NTRA Live! viewership were the United States, Anguilla, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam, the NTRA reported.
“When we created these NTRA Live! webcasts earlier this year, our goal was to bring some of North America’s most exciting races to fans who had no way of viewing them through other mediums,” NTRA senior vice president Keith Chamblin said in a statement. “We knew that there would be strong interest from abroad as well, but honestly, I never expected our webcasts to have this kind of reach so soon.
“It is a testament to the international appeal of Thoroughbred racing and of Zenyatta, in particular. We are actively pursuing strategic partnerships with major Internet portals in an effort to gain additional exposure for horse racing.”
The webcasts are free and are produced and directed by Tim Turrell, who has produced numerous telecasts on horse racing and other sports for ESPN, The Golf Channel, and others.
