Quote:
Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
The big picture problem with the system CD came up with is that it completely marginalizes traditional American 2 yo racing which surely will lead to a change in the training/racing of our best horses. Of course some will think this is a good thing but is it really better to have more overtrained, underraced horses running in Derby preps and the Derby itself? By making the last round of races worth so much more than races from Setp to Jan you run the risk of having the Derby look like a glorified nw2x race as a win in those races trumps as many as 4 or 5 wins in other time frames. Trainers/owners will pick up on this and start their best horses even later which has been shown over time to be detrimental as horses with solid 2 yo campaigns are more likely to have longer careers. The new ideal campaign that people will shoot for is a Jan Maiden win, a feb/march 2nd tier stake to build points and then the big April stake to get in. We have already seem suspect handling with good horses because there is this insane logic being used that racing horses hurts them but this pushes the envelope directly towards that theory. Why run in the late Summer with a promising horse as winning the Champagne gets you the same points as running 4th in the LA Derby?
Further fractionalizing racing doesnt help the greater good which a company that owns many tracks should realize.
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Other than the guy who sends his horse to win the Delta Jackpot with the idea its his ticket to the Derby are people really running in two year old races with the idea "hey, I am going to run in this spot because it will give me graded earnings", or are they running in the race because its money and they think they can win it with a precocious developed two year old?
I would also argue we are already there as far as the new way horses are being brought along for the Triple Crown, look no further than Bafferts Bode and Paynter.
What I am hoping is that you have a decent two year old with say 15 points, that they dont just map a 2 race campaign because they already have the earnings. If you do that and have a couple bad trips you could be screwed. Maybe it forces the more traditional 3 or 4 race campaign to ensure enough points. We need horses running more, not less.