Fox Facing Backlash Over Terry Bradshaw Decision at Belmont Stakes

Horse racing is, unquestionably, its own kind of sport, defined as much by the pastel colors, fancy hats and overall decorum of its showcase events as much as by the beauty and grace of the horses who participate. 

And so when the broadcast of this year's much-anticipated 157th Belmont Stakes, with a rematch between top 3-year-olds Journalism and Sovereignty in the offing, got rolling, there were the usual staples that racing fans have gotten accustomed to seeing. 

The race was held at Saratoga Race Course for the second straight year, as the track at Belmont is being overhauled, but there were familiar faces like handicapper Jonathon Kinchen, analyst/reporter Maggie Wolfendale and ex-jockey Richard Migliore. The race was being shown by Fox Sports, though, which meant the addition of outsiders like Curt Menefee and Charissa Thompson.

That was mostly not objectionable. But the addition of former quarterback Terry Bradshaw--who does, in fairness, own a horse with Menefee that was running on Saturday--was a bridge too far for many racing fans. Fox leans on Bradshaw for about five months during the football season, and it seemed reasonable to keep him off this broadcast.