Triple Crown Races should be improved
 

Pletcher said it best when he was speaking for the horsemen of the game. Why would you bother running your horse in the preakness if he totally got slaughtered in the derby. The derby is worth 2Mill on the other hand the Preakness and Belmont are worth 1 Mill. These races should be worth more I mean damn even the Delta Jackpot is worth 1 mill and it doesn't come up as tough. There is pleanty of other races to run in worth just as much if not more. The UAE derby is worth as much as the KY derby and the Flordia derby and Arkansas Derby is worth as much as the Preakness and Belmont they should improve the purses to keep the horsemen involved.

Agreed. The purses shoud be 3 million minimum.

Ah come on guys. How could a guy like Pletcher know anything? I mean geez, its not like he knows what hes doing or already banked 10 mill this year. How could he know anything? (that was said heavily sarcastically)

Hey Oracle, this is for real. They would get true quality fields in the Preakness and Belmont. I think the field is still very strong in the Belmont but not as good as it could be if it was worth 3mill. Plus the last few years we haven't attracted the worlds best and thats what the TC should be a showcase for the worlds best not just for the US's best. Think about all the good 3 yo 1 1/2 turf horses in Europe and throught the world. They would of showed up for the Belmont if there was 3 mill up for grabs. The Japanese would never ship a horse over for a 1 mil race. They could make more running in Nx2 Allowance races at Sha Tin. They should of borrowed that extra mill for the BC juv fillies and put it tword the derby. If the fillies are really that good they can run aginst the boys for the 2 mill.

I think the Maryland Jockey Club would go belly up if they doubled the Preakness purse ;)

....True dat.

The undercard on the first half of Preakness day was a joke. Bunch of 5yo n1x and maiden claimers. They knew the crowds would play whatever they threw out, so why put a good card together and have to pay purses. If it wasn't for one race on the 3rd Saturday of May, Maryland racing (at least Pimlico) would cease to exist.

I have been to Pimlico...you're thoughts on it being crappy are very accurate. For a track that holds the second jewel of the Triple Crown, you would think it could be improved. However, the state of Maryland racing is "in flux" at best. I would go more along the lines of a "dying breed". They only turn a profit for the year because of Preakness Day. I've also been across town to Laurel and hey, its not a dump, but it's better than Pimlico.
Pimlico needs alot of face lift work and basically a total overhaul, which it appears Magna is unwilling to do right now, probably since their investment in Pimlico and Laurel is almost solely based upon slot revenue, which is nill since the state govt wont approve them.

It's a shame, too, because a track with a history such as Pimlico should not be as run down as it is. Honestly, where else would you want to have the second leg of the Triple Crown? Maybe Gulfstream? Arlington? Certainly not the west coast tracks. It belongs in Maryland.

I like the fact that the last post in this room was on June 17th. So 5 months later I feel like someone should venture in here to clear the cobwebs.

Wish it was April and we could talk TC. Instead I can look forward to snow and cold. Sucks big time.

A True Improvement?
 

If someone really wants to improve the Triple Crown races, why not move them to the fall and move the Breeders' Cup to the Spring? :) In otherwords, switch the order. Permit only 3 yo and up to race in the Breeder's Cup juvenile races. Allow a few more months for 3 yos to leg up before the big push of the TC races in 5 week time span. I realize this would require some dramatic rethinking -- and that is always a problem in sport -- but wouldn't this be better for the young horses, and certainly not hurt the older horses? We wouldn't defeat public expectations because the Breeder's Cup could become the "big" spring day of races on the first Saturday in May. The TC would become the crown of the year -- and perhaps we could encourage a 4 yo and up TC to be the second card feature for all three days of TC racing.

To improve the TC and 3yo racing in general, I think a number of changes need to be made, none of which ever will.

1-Restrict all 2yo racing to races of 6f and under.

2-Set a ceiling for the amount of purse money a 2yo race can offer at $250k, with the exception of the BC which could be $1 million.

3-No races for 3yo's past 7f in January and February.

4-No races for 3yo's past 8f in March and April.

5-Reduce the grades of the prep races. If they are not the main event, they shouldn't be on an equal grade with the main event.

6-Reduce the field size for the Derby. A field of 14 horses would be the max. Automatic berths would go to the 1-2 finishers of the Wood, Florida Dby, SA Dby, Blue Grass, and Arkansas Dby. That would give us 10. The BC Juvenile winner would receive an automatic bid. The 2yo champion would receive an automatic bid. That would give us 12. To be eligible for one of the two remaining spots, a horse would have to have won a graded stakes race as a 3yo. The order of preference would be determined by 3yo earnings in graded stakes. There would be an also-eligible list but in order to be on it, a horse must have won a graded stakes as a 3yo. In the case that some of the automatic qualifiers are duplicates (for example, the 2yo champion wins the SA Dby), the also-eligible list will be used to fill out the field.

7-Reduce the Derby to 9f, keep the Preakness at 9.5f, and reduce the Belmont to 10f. We don't need a 12f Belmont anymore to see which 3yo's will be able to go on and compete against their elders at that distance in the fall since we no longer have 12f races in the fall.

8-Keep the Derby on the first Saturday in May, move the Preakness to the first Saturday in June, and move the Belmont to the Fourth of July.

9-Raise the purse of the Derby to $3 million. The Preakness purse would be $1 million if the Derby winner doesn't show up, $1.5 million if the Derby winner is there, $2 million if the Derby 1-2 are there, $2.5 million if the Derby 1-2-3 are there. The Belmont purse would be $1 million if neither TC race winner is there, $2 million if one is there, $2.5 million if both are there.

9-Bring back the TC bonus. Score it 10-5-3-1 for first through fourth so that way the winner of two races is guaranteed no worse than a split of the pot. Make a horse have to run in all three races to be eligible. Make the bonus $2 million. Have a $5 million bonus for a TC sweep.

10-Have all graded 3yo stakes after the TC include a purse upgrade of $100k if u get a horse that ran third in a TC race, $200k if u get a horse that ran second in a TC race, $500k if u get a TC race winner. Have that upgrade doubled if u get two such horses, tripled if u get three such horses.