Pletcher and his TC Comments

I disagree with him 100%. I don't think we an incentive in the TC series. I think the TC is way way overrated. The TC races are not that important anymore.

[Exceller]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

I disagree with him 100%. I don't think we an incentive in the TC series. I think the TC is way way overrated. The TC races are not that important anymore.

I couldn't agree with him more. TC races run the business. From breeding to television everything revolves around the 3 races. Without them ESPN and others wouldn't even carry horse racing. When you get involved with a horse the TC is the first thing you dream of.

the triple crwon is unique in all the world,it is horse racing,
and should never be changed, with one exception,

at some point it will move to synthetic turf (polly)

[Exceller]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

the triple crwon is unique in all the world,it is horse racing,
and should never be changed, with one exception,

at some point it will move to synthetic turf (polly)

Belmont will never change the surface.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

I agree with what Todd Pletcher said, and I definitely don't want to see the TC races run on polytrack. There are better solutions to the breakdown/safety problem than polytrack.

[GenuineRisk]

I seem to recall way back when that $5 million dollar bonus thing started (and I think it might have been when... Chrysler? Did they sponsor it before Visa? I was a teenager, anyway) that the sponsor offered a one million dollar bonus to whichever horse did the best in all three Triple Crown races- so that even if there was no TC winner, there was still a champ of the TC races, so to speak. They may have only done it for a year or so, but I remember as a very casual fan being interested in the horses competing for that award.

Does anyone else remember this?

[Thoroughbred Fan]

They should keep track of points based on finish in the three races and give a bonus to the top three point earners in the series. How about $500k, $200k, $100k.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I seem to recall way back when that $5 million dollar bonus thing started (and I think it might have been when... Chrysler? Did they sponsor it before Visa? I was a teenager, anyway) that the sponsor offered a one million dollar bonus to whichever horse did the best in all three Triple Crown races- so that even if there was no TC winner, there was still a champ of the TC races, so to speak. They may have only done it for a year or so, but I remember as a very casual fan being interested in the horses competing for that award.

Does anyone else remember this?

Yep, I'd forgotten about that, GenuineRisk, but I think you're right. I'm not sure it was $1 million, but it could have been.

In a similar vein, I liked the handicap point series they tried for a year or two. Horses earned points in various Grade I races, and the leaders at the end of the year picked up an extra several hundred thou. Unfortunately, the main year they tried it, the horses were not particularly inspiring. Festin and some others. They quickly dropped the idea.

--Dunbar

[whorstman]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I seem to recall way back when that $5 million dollar bonus thing started (and I think it might have been when... Chrysler? Did they sponsor it before Visa? I was a teenager, anyway) that the sponsor offered a one million dollar bonus to whichever horse did the best in all three Triple Crown races- so that even if there was no TC winner, there was still a champ of the TC races, so to speak. They may have only done it for a year or so, but I remember as a very casual fan being interested in the horses competing for that award.

Does anyone else remember this?

Yeah, I think they had a points sytem for that, Can't remeber the year, but I beleive on of those that won the 1st 2 leggs still lost because the winner of the belmont ran well in the 1st 2 and the horse that actually won the 1st two didn't finish well in the belmont and got no points? I dunno