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.