Somewhere in the corporate offices of Churchill Downs, I’m sure there is an Executive Vice-President of Greed. All he or she does all day long is look good in a pin-striped suit and try to figure new ways to piss off the public.

Did you see the front-page story in Saturday’s Courier-Journal that said the Breeders Cup World Championships may not ever come back to the home of the Kentucky Derby?

It’s not that the Breeders Cup folks want it that way. To the contrary, they LOVE Churchill Downs. It’s where they draw their biggest crowds, where the horseman are the happiest, and where the support staff always does a first-rate job.

But the empty suits who run the track are in a snit. They whine that they need to make more profit in order to make hosting the event worth their while. They complain that they don’t make much more from the Breeders Cup than they would from a regular Saturday.

Good ol’ Clueless — ah, Churchill –Downs does it again.

Just when you think the head sausage-maker, Bob Evans, and his executives can’t possibly be more arrogant or selfish, just when you think they can’t possibly think of a new way to crap on the public, doggoned if they don’t come up with something that just makes you want to cry.

Heaven forbid that the corporate suits should ever put the good of their patrons — and the entire sport of throughbred racing — ahead of profit. Heaven forbid that Churchill should host the Breeders Cup if for no other reason than that it brings an estimated $37 million into the local economy.

And heaven forbid that Churchill should want to reward the fans, the bettors, and the horsemen who support them. They haven’t had a clue about customer service or public relations since the day in 1984 that Tom Meeker replaced Lynn Stone as president.

I was never a fan of Meeker’s management style or his tactics. He was a lawyer, not a horseman, and it showed. He never cared nearly as much about the sport, its people, and its traditions as he did figuring new ways to exploit the Kentucky Derby and build a Churchill empire across the nation.

He also presided over the “renovation” that destroyed an American sporting shrine and turned it into just another glitzy Vegas casino. Everytime I see the twin spires in the shadows of those luxury-box towers, I literally get sick to my stomach.

But you know what? Much as I criticized Meeker, I’d take him back in a New York minute. Compared with the head sausage-maker and his staff, he almost looks like the second coming of Col. Matt Winn. (Note that I said “almost.” I don’t want to get carried away).

Everytime I read an interview with the head sausage-maker, I never see a word about horses or sport or tradition. It’s always a bunch of corporatespeak about finding new technology to enhance the bottom line.

Other than track superintendent Butch Lehr and the peripatetic spokesman John Asher, I seriously doubt there’s a single person in the front office who can tell you where Calumet Farm is, much less name all the Calumet horses who have won the Derby.

You could lock these guys in the Derby Museum and make them watch that wondrous video presenation a zillion times and their reaction would be, “So, what’s the big deal?” Or, “We didn’t have to pay for this, did we?”

If Kentucky ever approves casino gambling and Churchill gets a license, as it surely would, there would have to be a major attitude adjustment on the part of track management.

In order to compete against Caesar’s over in Indiana, they would actually have to start catering to their customers, especially the ones with deep pockets.

The casinos invented the modern concept of customer service. They wine and dine the high rollers. They comp them on meals and rooms. They even treat the little old ladies playing the slots far better than race tracks treat the $2 bettors in the grandstand.

At race tracks, the most important individuals are the horses and the people who bet on them or just love to see them run. Track management needs to truly buy into that instead of just paying lip service to it.

But back to the Executive Vice-President for Greed, whomever he or she may be.

If Churchill doesn’t bid to get the Breeders Cup in 2009, the track will forfeit some special tax breaks it was granted by the General Assembly. Even the legislators, bless their provincial hearts, understand something that track management doesn’t — namely, that it’s an honor and a privilege to host the Breeders Cup. It’s also good for the horseman, the fans, and the economy.

So if I were the head sausage maker, I’d already be in damage-control mode. I’d announce immediately that Churchill wants the Breeders Cup in 2009. I would not hold out for any extra concessions that it might be able to wheedle out of the Breeders Cup folks or government. In fact, I’d get down on my knees and beg the Breeders Cup to come to Churchill in ‘09.

I’d do it simply because hosting the Breeders Cup is good for Kentucky, good for Louisville, good for the horses and horsemen, and good for the bettors upon whose generosity and bankrolls the sport depends.

Oh, yeah. I’d also fire the Executive Vice-President for Greed without thinking twice about it. After all, he or she won’t be out of a job long. There’s always will be a place in Corporate America for cold-hearted jerks who put profit ahead of principle.