Thank you very much for scoring Digger.
Only 4 weeks to go until KY Derby Day. With three major Derby preps on the schedule, and three more KY Oaks preps as well, I thought that this might be that once a year situation when an all graded stakes contest card involving three different tracks might make sense and be enjoyable. On top of that, NBC is providing national TV coverage of the 3 derby preps.
Alas, the racing secretaries haven't made that easy. The 4 major stakes on the Aqueduct card have been spread all over the card (the Gazelle is race 3, the Bay Shore race 6, the Carter race 8 and the Wood race 11). While the Wood has a full and competitive field, the other 3 have fields that, putting it kindly, are less robust. Santa Anita has also spread their races all over the card, partly because the Santa Anita Derby has been timed to fit into the NBC coverage. There is a gap of 2 1/2 hours between the SA Derby and the SA Oaks.
It is opening weekend at beautiful Keeneland. At least the Keeneland card has a nice sequence of stakes races, running from the Commonwealth as race 5 and continuing until the Blue Grass as race 9. Perhaps they will even offer an all stakes pick 5.
This is a long winded way of saying that my original thoughts of an all stakes card don't really make a lot of logistical sense and might create too much confusion for our players and scorers. I do want to recognize the key Derby preps and plan to come up with a contest card that focuses on Keeneland but also includes both the Wood and the Santa Anita Derby. I hope that Digger and Real Quiet don't object to my doing that.
|