BEYER: Crown thriving but tinkering could be in order
 

Triple Crown is thriving, but series could use some tweaks
By Andrew Beyer

At a time when almost every other segment of the U.S. Thoroughbred industry is in decline, the Triple Crown series is as popular as ever. The total live attendance at the three races exceeded 327,000, and the full cards on the days of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont generated more than $322 million in wagers.

The industry needs to keep the Triple Crown thriving. It should resist the temptation to be complacent and look for ways to make its premier product even better. The 2011 series suggested the need for some changes, and I would suggest that Pimlico and Churchill Downs consider making them in 2012.

i disagree that you tinker with what is working. the trick is to make more races than these three into big draws. the tc is huge because the supposed best of the best come to clash. we need some other races that do the same.

I don't agree with the field size argument, but I do agree with his point on limiting earnings to races only earned on dirt.

The Preakness undercard will always be up against it. Trainers do not want to wheel-back in two weeks, and with so many races at CD, it's hard to tell an owner we're going to wait for Pimlico.

:tro:
I'm on board with this theory. Nothing needs to be tweaked with the current Triple Crown races.
But try to create something else that would generate the buzz and excitment that the the TC offers. Some sort of 2nd half/summer Triple Crown series. Which would eventually lead in to the Breeders Cup and hopefully carry over some of the fans/viewers that only follow the TC circuit.

I think the Preakness undercard's problem is more a testament to how bad things are in Maryland right now than it is to the spacing of the undercard races in relation to Derby day.

So people are not interested in the Dixie because Maryland Racing is in the red? I think it has more to do with the turf race at CD on Derby day and the Manhattan on Belmont day. I thought Beyer's point about raising the purses of these races is terrific.

Which was my point exactly. There really aren't purses to be raised in Maryland these days. If Andy Beyer wants to contribute from his retirement account to the Gallorette, that'd be great, but otherwise, Maryland racing is pretty close to being at rock bottom right now.

I love the Preakness undercard with ungraded stakes races maxed out with 14 who are eligible for non winnners of 1.

Why change anything? Everyone looks forward to it...and as far as I can tell the fact that there hasn't been a Triple Crown winner kind of builds the mystique of the TC as far as I'm concerned.

Did you read what he wrote? If MID is willing to pay the insurance premiums on a potential $5.5 million bonus they could divert those funds to the purses on Preakness day.

There's always going to be a "red headed step child" factor to the Preakness undercard because there's more to winning the Churchill Downs than the Maryland Sprint Handicap. The problem that the Preakness undercard has is that the races are rarely competitive and lead to the parade of favorites that has occurred each of the last two years.

ftfy

I think "tinker" is underused word.
Preakness under card hasn't been the same since Northern Wolf

I doubt that putting the money spent on the insurance premium (I'm guessing $100K) would meaningfully change the purses offered for the undercard.

The relative weakness of the Preakness undercard is a reflection of the frequency with which horses are raced, the fact that Maryland is generally not a stop on the "good horse" circuit (Gulfstream/Keeneland-Churchill/Belmont-Saratoga), and the weakness of Maryland racing to the extent that Pimlico cannot round up enough competitive local horses to take on the limited number the "stand out" shippers (like a Ventana) to make for good betting races.

What do you really think the insurance premiums on a $5.5 million bonus are? Certainly not enough to make a big dent in purse prices on any given day.

I didn't write the column. I merely stated what Beyer was saying that seemed to be getting missed.

I can tell you that it's more than 100k. Generally the insurance premiums on a bonus like the Preakness 5.5, at its current three-tiered structure are in the neighborhood of 5%. If MID is willing to put any kind of money towards a bonus then they just might have the capital to put towards purse structure on the biggest day of a given meet.

All Beyer was attempting to do was amplify the point that when your customers are hungriest for your product, you might as well make it as good as you possibly can. While the Preakness day handle was good, with that type of attention being paid to your signal it can always be better.

MID has never done much with cross-promoting their races. Incentivizing horses running in the GP Sprint or Potrero Grande and Maryland Sprint Handicap with some type of bonus is a good idea. If the Preakness 5.5 and Black Eyed Susan 2.2 are the start of them getting towards that goal then that's a good thing.

Given my limited conversation with insurers for horse racing bonus, if they insured a $5.5 million bonus for $100k, they got away with a steal.

How would the Maryland horsemen react to money being found to enhance the purses of a few races on one day that will go to a bunch of people that ship in for the races while nothing is done for their everyday races?

Happens every year at all small tracks, including Pimlico, LAD etc. The argument the other way is legit: Part of the brand of that track, from a simulcasting perspective etc., is its marquee day. Marketing the track, attracting visitors all play a role.

Weak, weak argument. You want, you NEED your home track to have a big day. Bad days lead to more bad excuses. The obvious is accurate - the bigger the opportunities on the ONE day when people are paying attention to Pimlico, the greater the chances of people playing and playing more on your track.