It's that time of the season when racing pundits realize the average sports audience has the attention span of Britney Spears at the altar.

Happy New Year everyone and now please let us pray to the Almighty to deliver unto us racing's next superstar, the one that we hear of year after year, the one who will ultimately put our sport back on top. But even if Secretariat returned from the grave to once again sweep the Triple Crown, would it really make a long-term difference to the sport? Let's face it, in this busy day and age, whether its Silver Charm or Charismatic or Fusaichi Pegasus or War Emblem or Funny Cide, the general public has a pretty short memory when it comes to horse racing.

As I watched one of my favorite new TV shows the other night, Celebrity Poker Challenge, I pondered whether Coolio would outlast Shannon Elizabeth at the table. I also wondered how this gambling-oriented venture had caught on with the mainstream and could racing do the same? Could Wheel, Box and With All become as much a part of today's vernacular as Flop, Turn and River?

One of the more appealing aspect of the current poker craze is that most of us have played card games, just like most of us have played many of the various sports we see on television. What sports fan hasn't shot a basketball, thrown a football or hit a baseball at some point in his or her life? But very few have ever ridden a Thoroughbred at 40 mph, which is why the sport of horse racing might be hard for a majority of the general public to relate to.

But what about the wagering angle? Ah, there's the hook. But even though Americans love to gamble -- whether they're in Las Vegas or at the local bingo parlor or rubbing off a lottery ticket at their neighborhood gas station -- it seems that those that market horse racing almost downplay the fact that you can bet on the sport legally; that it's really very simple to place a small wager (whether online or in person) on a horse race and, quite often, get odds that dwarf those offered by the average casino card game. And then there's the fact that the wager can be made randomly with little thought (like a lottery ticket) or deliberately after hours of studying the Daily Racing Form. There's something for everybody.

Horse racing should go with this flow with its own take on the poker TV shows.

I'm not talking about putting Patrick Valenzuela across the table from Nick Zito in a game of Texas Hold'em, though I must admit the thought of those two sweating out a Flop for a six-figure pot is pretty compelling.

What I envision is a weekly show where contestants, who could qualify to play on the show through the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Tournament, would bet races using play money, much like a regular handicapping contest. Each would try to parlay an initial $100 into as large a sum as possible.

The show would have to be edited to get more than three or four races in during the hour, and that might include whittling down the races themselves (sorry purists) to make it more fast-paced. But the handicappers would tell why they chose a certain horse and comment during the races regarding their horses' performances. Horse racing has some real characters and this would be a perfect way to showcase them while subtly teaching people about how to play what can be an intimidating game.

There could even be celebrity shows. Can Tobey Maguire with his Seabiscuit experience pick more than Allison Janney whose own bloodline includes Stuart Janney, the owner of the great Ruffian? Throw in Dick Van Patten, perhaps Hollywood's best handicapper, with a Simpson (Jessica or Bart, take your pick) and you'd have a show that people would watch.

What I propose might not bring the instant salvation that some imagine horse racing needs, but wouldn't marketing racing as a game instead of a sport to attract new fans make more sense than waiting around for the next thoroughbred superstar?