by John Berry

Ahhhh, March Madness.

There are headlines all over the place about the men’s NCAA tournament, and the women’s side of that roster also has received plenty of ink and on-air commentary.

Within the first five minutes of the first tip-off, there were more than 700 “challenge” brackets created, per second, with the total on the men’s side exceeding 24,000,000.

After day one of the tournament, out of those 24,000,000 brackets, only 25,802 perfect brackets were still alive.

Now, there are Z-E-R-O perfect brackets.

The NCAA women’s bracket had around 15,000,000 brackets.

Headlines: This college basketball tournament captures the country — the world — with headlines.

No need to carry this any further. You probably watched the championship games on television, whether you were at home or in the paddock.

How about Hambletonian Madness, July Madness, then October Madness, Breeders Crown Madness.

We have the perfect numbers for the Hambletonian Stakes, 95 colts and/or geldings and 98 fillies.

Wouldn’t that be just perfect and a match for the NCAA tournaments for March Madness for the men and the ladies?

All it takes is a bit of ingenuity and a sports book connection, and we should know about plenty of those, shouldn’t we?

The Hambletonian is covered from “A” to “Z,” well, really only from “B” to “Y,” Banksy Monkey to Yolo Kemp.

And the fillies are covered from “A” to “X,” Act Accordingly to Xalapa.

The possibilities are endless with brackets and prop plays.

We’re talkin’ headlines, folks, and it’s time to get some with our strong menu of, now, G1 (Grade 1) events.

We simply must take that first step; one step, then another, and another.

The Hambletonian Maturity — also a G1 event, has 36 eligibles with nine mares tossing their bonnets in the ring in an event dotted with, to name a few, Amazing Catch, Highland Kismet, Karl, Secret Agent Man and, yet another looking to win the war, Vic Zelenskyy.

Add to that the famed Delvin Miller Adios (G1) with 90 eligibles, the Cane Pace, which is now classified as a G2, the MGM Messenger (G2) with 37 eligibles and the MGM Yonkers Trot, a triple crown event labeled G2, with 41 hopefuls, and you’ve got the makings for some serious headlines, something we sorely need for a grand sport suffering, largely, from non-exposure outside of our little bubble.

Then, building on this, our sport can enjoy October Breeders Crown Madness, featuring two great nights of racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park in late October.

With the now established 2-year-olds featured on October 24, the 3-year-old and open divisions will be ripe for headlines the following night.

Wouldn’t it be grand to get 20,000 at the track that night, and at least 10 million taking notice with brackets and prop bets — what the gamblers want — to prop up interest in the sport?

As Neil Armstrong said when he walked on the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

If we can take a leap — even though a bit late — it could be a giant stride forward to our future.

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU