Three New BC Races
 

$1 Million BC Turf Sprint (6.5 furlongs)
$1 Million BC Juvenile Fillies Turf (1 mile)
$500,000 BC Dirt Marathon (1 1/2 miles)

...Note the BC Dirt Marathon won't be run on dirt.

This is just another example of
too much of a good thing.

This is getting to be a little too much...

The 1 1/2 mile race is actually an ingenious idea. It is so unbelievably stupid that it will deflect attention from the idiocy of the other two races. Just think, we now have a championship race for a division that doesn't exist....and breeders have specifically attempted to eradicate.

The German breeders, on the other hand, must be positively giddy.

It is like they are purposely trying to dilute the field sizes with these fields. I understand two of the races from last year (Juv Turf and Dirt Mile) but the other additions just take away from the other fields. We are going to start seeing 8 horse fields in all these races because there is going to be 20 BC races....

I like the 12F race. The Belmont is 12F. NYRA carded several 10+F races this year. A welcome change by the BC. It is good for racing and breeding over all.

Mile and 1/2 on the Poly!?! Can't wait!!!

I agree the mile and a half race is particuarrly stupid. The article also says there should be a series of marathon races throughout the year to support it, with a win an you are in status. Also, if these races do not affect the numbers of entants per race, they surely will dilute the quality of all of the races

lol a mill race for a bunch of claimers and allowance horses. lets send kickin' n screamin' there... she'll like the distance!

I rest my case.

I'd like to see Belmont bring back the 12F allowance carded on every Belmont day up until a few years ago. Sounds good to make the Jockey Club Gold Cup at least 12 F.

Do you know why there was a 1 1/2 mile allowance race on the Belmont undercard?

And, furthermore, you are suggesting the JCGC, once considered as prestigious a race as was run in this country, should now be reduced to being a prep for a completely inconsequential race. Brilliant.

You are the smarest person on this board, without a doubt. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Your knowledge about the benefit of synthetic surfaces and the need for countless cup races are a true blessing.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The 12F race makes absolutely no sense for SO many reasons. . . WTF were they thinking?

The Breeders cup commitee have been taking Calder's extreme day way too serious. Can't wait for the Jockey's to race one another, leaning towards a Coa/nakatani exacta.

It does make sense and the article described their thoughts. In 1989 Easy Goer won the JCGC in 2:29 1/5...After 1989 the JCGC was cut back to 10F by some sprint loving person in blinkers.

In 1974 Forego won the JCGC in 3:21 1/5. The JCGC has been run since 1919. Only since 1990 has it been run at it's shortest 10F distance.

My boy is back:cool:

Since you don't know why this race was run I will tell you......it was run at the request of the TV Network covering the Belmont so that they could test their equipment on a race comparable to the Belmont before that race was run.

Why, then, did NYRA stop running it? Because it barely fills, at best, and it is important on big days to run races with full fields from the obvious handle perspective.

The real reason the BC is adding these races is to attempt to increase handle and therefore revenue.

Noble intentions.....don't ya think?

The JCGC , having been shortened to the more common distance of 1¼ miles in 1990, has reduced its distinctiveness.

The race was once run (1976 through 1989) at 1½ miles, but from 1921 through 1975 it was two miles long.

Maybe a return to the 2 mile distance or possibly a 1 5/8 will bring back some of the glamour of this great race.

When Malibu Moonshine wins it?

if this were April first I'd be convinced this was a joke.
was there a groundswell of support for these races?
its baffling really why they'd want to water down the other races.
plus the "win and you're in" nonsense.
It really has become a joke.

In other news, the DRF has hired BBB as handicapper-in-chief.

At this time who are the pre-eminent "marathon" horses that may factor in the new 12F division ?

A few shippers from Beulah and The Green Monkey.

Looks like they are headed towards doing this. I think a bunch of people are looking only at the short term here and thinking about how ugly this race will be and what it's going to be like for the first few years. It's going to be brutal, no doubt about it. I do think, however, that over the coming years, it's going to start getting better. I remember when the JCGC was a 12f race and I know it was a 16f race for a long time before that. I know that races like the Brooklyn and the Woodward used to be run at 12f also. I remember people complaining when the JCGC was reduced to 10f and when the Vosburgh was reduced to 6.5f then to 6f. I hear the uproar when people like myself suggest that the TC races be reduced in distance. People keep saying that we are giving in to the breeders and making the horses into an even less sturdy breed. I believe that is true. But I kind of feel like it's contradictory to complain about the "woosification" of the horses then complain again when someone is at least trying to turn it around. I also believe that the BC is doing a good thing here in trying to turn that around. The first move had to be made by someone. The breeders weren't going to do it. They didn't have any incentive at all to breed horses to run longer distances when there were no races to run them. Now, they will have some spots so now there will be at least a little incentive. I applaud the BC for making the first move here. They've created a market for breeders to fill. But it's going to take time. I don't think anyone that is into the game and knows what's really going on is going to mistake the horses that win this race as true champions. We know it's going to be won for a while by the plodders that have no speed and can't compete with others at normal distances. Horses like Jazil, for instance. For a person like me, one who's usually looking at the negative side of the sport and trying to look for ideas that could make it better, I think this is a step in the right direction. A baby step but a step nonetheless.

How can they call a 12 furlong race a marathon??? That in itself is a joke.

There were reports in our racing press that the BC people were discussing the idea of a staying race and it was assumed it would be a 14 furlong race.

I do agree that they are making too much of it now. Field sizes will no doubt drop with these added races.

As someone said, it is becoming too much of a good thing.

Whats next, a race for greys only?

Don't you think it's hard enough to get quality mile and a quarter races with Million dollar purses?

I have to say that i agree with almost everything you say here. As you say, people are complaining when races are dropped in distance, which is most likely to do with the breeders and their wants/needs. Now people also complain with longer distance races.

However, i'm not sure this kind of race should be on the BC, when the schedule is being packed full so it seems.

More 12 furlong races by all means, but i'm not sure if the BC is the right place, not while they continue to add races like they are going out of fashion.

I do. And as I said, this new race is not going to be a quality race for at least a few years. The races they have during the year to support it will also suck. But I think they have to start somewhere. If you are a breeder, you had absolutely no incentive to even think about breeding horses that could run beyond 10f. Now, they do. It's going to take a while but I am confident that in a few years, maybe it takes five or more, this race won't be so bad. I try not to only focus on the short term when I think about racing.

So now the BC is going to save horse racing.


And people are buying it.





You can't make this stuff up.