Big Brown Sponsor Hooters Will Have No Corporate Presence

NYRA Says Hooters Will Not Have Belmont Presence

A NYRA spokesperson said there will be "no corporate Hooters presence on the grounds" of Belmont Park for Saturday's Belmont Stakes, despite the restaurant inking a deal to sponsor Triple Crown contender Big Brown, according to Burke & Boyle of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. NYRA's Web site states women at the event are encouraged to wear "dresses, skirts or pantsuits" with "no jeans, shorts, or abbreviated wear permitted." The "skimpy outfits worn by the buxom waitresses would not be considered 'proper attire' at the race track and the girls might never make it past officials at the front gate." However, "no one at Belmont Park said the women would be banned."  Hooters VP/Marketing Mike McNeil said, "As far as I know, everything's good to go." Big Brown's other sponsor UPS said that the Hooters deal "would not affect its endorsement of the horse." The Hooters' company logo still will be on jockey Kent Desormeaux' silks on Saturday (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/6). However, ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards reported NYRA has "a problem with this Hooters sponsorship. They do not agree with this. They feel that it’s in competition with some sponsorship deals they have here on site and they tell me that they are not going to allow jockey Kent Desormeaux to wear the Hooters logo on his pants come Saturday” ("PTI," ESPN, 6/5).

WINGING IT: Michael Iavarone, co-President of IEAH stables, which owns Big Brown, said of sponsorships, "I think that you can cross the line a little bit. The regulatory side of racing will start to be a little more stringent. I can't say I have a problem with Hooters" (AP, 6/5). The Denver Post’s Jim Armstrong said, “If you watch NASCAR on Sundays, come on, we're supposed to get upset because a horse has a couple of endorsement deals? I just don't think so. It's no big deal. I'm kind of numb to it by now.” However, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti said, “It's one thing for Dick Vitale to get himself involved with Hooters, it's quite another for Big Brown. I don't want my horses being impeded by chicken wings and Hooters girls and all that in the winner’s circle. What I want to do is enjoy a moment. We've been waiting for three decades and this trainer, Rick Dutrow, it's just typical of the way he is. He’s getting in the way of this. The horse is the only classy part about this thing” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 6/5).

UPS: In Chicago, Lewis Lazare writes Big Brown "may be able to do a lot for [UPS], especially if the horse becomes a Triple Crown winner." Even if he does not, UPS and Virginia-based Martin Agency are "taking advantage of the occasion of the Belmont Stakes to pay tribute both to the horse and to the company for which he is named -- without, thankfully, appearing too, too commercial." Martin has "devised a print ad that shows a giant closeup shot of Big Brown at the finish wire at the Kentucky Derby." The ad copy reads, "How to deliver a 126-pound package really, really fast" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/5).