Tom Chuckas on Preakness/TC Spacing

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by SundayStar

more spacing wouldn't make a triple crown easier. i think it would make it more difficult actually. a lot of good horses that don't run well in the derby don't come back for the preakness because it's only two weeks. whereas if it were a month, they would be much more likely to come back for a shot at the preakness which would make the field stronger. and the undercard would be much better too. i can't blame Chuckas for wanting more spacing from the derby. Pimlico gets short shrift the way it is now.

that's just it, i don't know that moving the preakness would mean one more horse would step into the gate that ran in the derby.
a lot of people run horses in the derby just as a 'throw it at the wall, see if it sticks' type move. many drop out of the stakes ranks altogether after kentucky.
if chuckas wants a bigger day on preakness day, he needs to make the other stakes worth coming too, instead of just counting on the preakness to make or break him.
make the black eyed susan a bigger race, move it to saturday. do like belmont did, with moving the met mile. he has to make the whole day a derby-type day. offer large purses, big races, do some schedule jiggling. he could offer a nice tune up race to the met mile in three weeks, he needs to try to appeal more to those who would look at maryland as a springboard to the big day in three weeks. live with the spacing from derby day, and instead focus on offering something that would induce people to run here as a move to ny in three weeks. it's a perfect spacing for that day.