That is what is wrong with the Breeders Cup when it comes to older horses. Trainers point their horses to the BCC and that is it. Heck, Flower Alley hasnt even raced yet, Ghostzapper didnt even make his debut until the Met Mile a year ago.

Having a bonus tied into certain races doesnt work for older horses. They have tried that and no one is interested. The money they would get is nothing to what they will get in breeding. Why race your horse is a 3 race series against other top horses when your main goal is to get your horse perfect for the BCC?

As for 3 year olds, the proper way to do a bonus is to make sure you get the top talent. Lets say you use the Travers as the last leg of the series. You could say that any horse to win a Triple Crown race and the Travers is elibigle for a $5mm bonus. Any horse who finishes 2-4th in any Triple Crown and wins the Travers is eligible for a $3mm bonus. I think trainers would go for something like this. You have to make the bonus attractive to multiple horses. Lets take this year for example.

Bluegrass Cat
Jazil
Bernardini
Steppenwolfer
Hemingways Key
Sunriver
Sweetnorthernsaint
Brother Derek

What you have done is made the Travers very attractive to multiple horses instead of just one. But this will never happen, because bonuses do not work.