Introducing a Triple Crown for Four/Five Year Olds

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by ScottJ

What does the community think about a triple crown for older (both four and five year old) horses?

The design would be that three national races would be selected at distance (1 1/4 miles, 1 1/2 miles, and a third distance to be chosen), conducted in the May to October time frame, perhaps including a Breeder's Cup event. The idea would be to win each of the three races not only in a single year, but perhaps over the course of the two years.

Purses for the three races should come in at a minimum of $2M USD. The race locations could be East Coast, West Coast, and perhaps mid-US. Would this encourage the continued participation of three years olds? Would this better capture the imagination of the US viewer and bettor?

Comments sought.

New York would stand the best chance at doing something like this. They already have the best races and honestly its not even close anymore. They have 5 huge handicap races in place. Met Mile, Suburban, Whitney, Woodward and JCGC. Maybe offer a bonus if a horse swept them. How would offering any sort of bonus benefit NYRA?? Im just not seeing it. But if they had to they could choose 3 of the 5 races.... IMO it would be Met, Whitney and JCGC and offer a bonus if a horse swept the 3. I dont think its possible on a national scale.
I mean if you have a good handicap horse, or even a 3yr old that you think needs time to mature why would you not have him in NY for the handicap races that they offer?