May
16
Time to tweak the Triple Crown
by Barry Roos
Published: May 16, 2010 5 Comments
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After watching yesterday’s Preakness Stakes, one thing is abundantly clear, time to tweak the Triple Crown. Now, I am the first to guard traditions in sports, but sometimes you need to adjust your thinking. As an example, instant replay in football, was a great move. The wildcard in baseball gave more cities a rooting interest ,and yes was a great move. Now it is racing’s turn. Think outside the box, make some changes.
I think the modern thoroughbred just can’t handle the 2 weeks after the Derby and then 3 to the Belmont. Horses used to run a lot more and the schedule while grueling, was not as far fetched a proposition. Top horses rarely come back on 2 weeks rest, so the chances of winning the Crown become slimmer and slimmer. The short time in between the races also adds fuel to the anti-racing advocates who use any excuse to hammer us.
The solution? I would add a week in between the Derby and the Preakness, and another week before the Belmont. Had there been another week, my guess is Super Saver has a lot more gas. He ran his eyeballs out in Louisville and had every reason to be tired. Another week in between and you would have had Ice Box as well. My guess is Zito preferred to win the Belmont, and knew he couldn’t do both after a tough trip in the Derby. Also, you would have had a few others as well, and the Preakness would have been a much better contest. Sure it will always be the weakest of the jewels, but still it is a Classic, and very special.
So the question is this, will racing adapt? I doubt it. The NTRA won’t do anything meaningful, and Churchill Downs pulling its membership will more than likely start a trend. So it is probably going to take the tracks themselves to make the change and bolster the Triple Crown.
Preakness thoughts: I am almost always let down after the Derby. The Derby has a great undercard and it is a truly spectacular production. The undercard of the Preakness has some good racing although the purses for a Classic day are pitiful. Blame maybe a special horse, amazing that purse was 100k. Lets hope Maryland gets their act in gear, and can make Preakness day closer in quality to the Derby.
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Nothing wrong with yesterdays card. You have a special 4yo turf filly on the up with Rainbow View, Blame is special too. Need a top quality sprint in there though
If they change anything about the Triple Crown it should be something with the Derby. The supposed greatest race always feels like a crapshoot to me. I doubt Super Saver was the best horse on Derby day and it showed in the Preakness. He won the Derby because he had the best trip, plain and simple.
Horses coming out of the Derby had four of the top six finishing positions. If the two weeks truly is more than the horses can handle how is that possible?
Dan, there was some good racing, but the purses for those races are pitiful. The whole day is just a step down from Derby day. It would be nice if the purses were on par.
Nick – The Derby is a crapshoot as everyone wants to be there. The time in between is becoming a bigger issue every year. Now Lookin at Lucky won’t run in the Belmont nor will Super Saver. So the Belmont will not have either horse which defeats the idea of a series. That is a shame, but horses can’t take the 5 week/3race toll.
[...] The rhetoric about changing the Triple Crown series has begun in earnest. I respect everyone’s opinion which brings me to today’s Blog of the Day. I do not agree with the blogger but it is an interesting read nonetheless. Equine Project – Time to Tweak the Triple Crown. [...]
It is such a simple and obvious solution, it’s a wonder nobody thought of it. It is a good idea to add an extra week mot only for the horses but I think it would also be beneficial for the sport. With the races so close together there is not enough build up for each race. With the decline of interest in the racing sport it is this “outside the box” thinking that is needed to help revive this wonderful sports.