I wish horse racing was "as alive as it has ever been", but the reality is it's dying a slow death. Attendance figures and wagering handle at tracks all over North America are in steady decline, and have been for many years now. Many tracks only survive by becoming "racinos". The downside to that is the people coming for the casino action don't tend to be interested in the racing side of things. They'd be just as likely to show up if the racing was completely removed from the equation. The financial ramifications of that are not overlooked by the number crunchers looking at the viability of the tracks and racing in general.
Admittedly, certain events do elicit a momentary spike in attention to horse racing from the general public - such as the Kentucky Derby. The TV numbers are good, but far from spectacular. Mediocre NFL games tend to get higher ratings. For actual attendees, there is often more interest in the funky hats, the Mint Julep concessions, and the "see & be seen" routine than on the actual race.
However, that spike of attention can carry over to the Preakness if a longshot wins at Kentucky or if it was a nailbiter at the finish. The excitement carries over for that couple week stretch to the Preakness, where it then usually dies off along with the Triple Crown dreams of the Derby winner/Preakness loser. In a year like this where there is a lot of media attention about the real possiblity of a Triple Crown winner, the excitement stretches that much longer. But it is not sustained attention. It's a pretty safe bet that there will be nowhere near the originally projected viewership numbers when the Belmont runs tomorrow. With a Triple Crown winner once again not a possibility, the general public loses interest and moves on. Most really won't care (or even know) who wins the Belmont, regardless of how good a race it might be.
For those of us who love the sport and follow it faithfully it's pretty depressing to see that it's now a shadow of what it was in it's heyday. There will always be true race fans, but I don't see it ever returning to the heights of it's glory days. Barring several more successful racing movies like Secretariat suddenly appearing (unlikely) and piquing the public's interest, most people just won't care enough to bother with racing again until the next Kentucky Derby. Horse racing just doesn't have the appeal that other sports have for the vast majority of people. Ask around in any city that has a currently operating racetrack - try and find more than a handful of people who have ever attended a live horse race there. Don't count the ones that were at the track for just the casino action. It's not going to be a big number.
