Quote:
Originally Posted by Merlinsky
Any chance they can squeeze the Pimlico Special (I guess formerly known as the shorter distanced Schaefer) to a G2 for next year and bring back the Schaefer as a G3? I'd hate to just swap one out to get the other back so I'm gonna hope the horses in the field do well the rest of 2012--assuming that's what Pimlico even wants since the higher the grading, the higher the required minimum purse. You'd think they'd want it back in all it's G1 glory if they can afford it.
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Do they really need to run the Schaefer if they can maintain the Pimlico Special's purse? Seems like it would be kind of crowded given the woes of the track and the sparseness of the older horse division.
They used to run the Pimlico Special a week before the Preakness. Ideally, it would be a stand alone event that helps kick off Preakness week, not some undercard race. As a means of promoting its popularity, it would be cool to have some sort of bonus attached to competing in both the Preakness and the Pimlico Special in consecutive years. Many Preakness alumni have done so previous (Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance, Summer Squall, Unbridled, Strike The Gold, Real Quiet, Concern, Free House, Best Pal, Midway Road, Skip Away, Eddington, Tejano Run, Star Standard, Brian's Time).