Mayne On Track

One of the things that's struck me about sports coverage in the Seattle area is the impressive amount of play that's given to horse racing. From KJR's brilliantly-named Win Place Show on Sunday to frequent print features like today's Gallop Poll, which features savvy commentary on the sport from current ESPN (and former KSTW) anchor and Kent native Kenny Mayne -- who's in town tonight in support of his new book -- we respect horse racing here more than, say, St. Louis, whose five sports radio stations devoted maybe 15 cumulative minutes per week to Fairmount Park, which was closer to downtown St. Louis than Emerald Downs is to Seattle. What's more, regular musings from the likes of the P.I.'s Larry Lee Palmer would never garner even subprime real estate in the Post-Dispatch, which does little more than run entries and results in tiny type.