Brooklynite you might remember that the day they run the Belmont stakes they used to always run a starter allowance race at 1 1/2 mile.In fact i remember some of the horses names.On e of them was a horse called Rio Tunyan as well as Viborg.As i have stated before this sport lacks a rivalry and hasn't had one for years.There is so much money around to be made that owners and trainers have a smorgesboard of where they can go.I follow Mountaineer mostly and i see horses that have earnings of 600k and i say i've never heard of this horse.When i started following racing if a horse made 250k you knew who he was.

JR Holmes won that 1 1/2 mi race the day Commendable won I believe. JR 's time was about .2 slower. i miss that race on Belmont day too.

That was when tracks were alert to the needs of the true racing fan ...

... now they're more concerned about t-shirts and bobbleheads.

Another brilliant quirk of the racing calendar I just noticed. There are only three races at six furlongs for older fillies and mares that are G1 or G2. Yet this year those three races were all scheduled in a 32 day span virtually guaranteeing that no horse would run in all three of them.