AGSC: PA Derby up to G1; Wood, Blue Grass down to G2

[kp319]

The Wood no longer a Grade 1 That's sad.

[10 pnt move up]

not surprised about the blue grass, which was killed by synthetic...but a little surprised by the Wood.

[freddymo]

Wood not the biggest deal it will be a G1 again. I think the whole grading system is outdated. Don't see the need for it save marketing breeding stock. Great races don't need a label and ordinary horses typically don't win great races. The whole thing seems overrated for my palate.

Breeding market can handle the exclusion of labels.

[taxicab]

Ugh....
First of all,the Mother Goose never should of been downgraded to a Grade 2.
Just take a look at 3 of the last 8 winners of the race:
2009: Rachel Alexandra.
2013: Close Hatches.
2014: Untapable.
They blew that one....

I guess I get the Wood,for some reason that race hasn't produced......strange.

The Blue Grass is gonna sting,that's flat out breeding country.......
They'll be scrambling over @ Keenland to get the race back up to a Grade 1.
Don't forget,the Blue Grass was downgraded to a Grade 2 for pretty much the entire decade of the 90's.

The question is........how do the Wood/Blue Grass get bumped back up ?
Both Keenland/NYRA have money to use, if that's the way they want to approach it to attract top runners.
A race sequential bonus{BC/Triple Crown race} might do the trick,or a 50% (or more) purse hike will surely thicken up the quality of the fields.

[cakes44]

I Want Revenge and Eskendereya missing the KD after winning the Wood probably didn't help. They would have been two clear favorites in KDs won by Mine that Bird and Super Saver.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by cakes44

I Want Revenge and Eskendereya missing the KD after winning the Wood probably didn't help. They would have been two clear favorites in KDs won by Mine that Bird and Super Saver.

Plus Toby's Corner and Uncle Mo from the 2011 running. Wood has been very unlucky on that front. Outwork not running beyond Derby and Gemologist with only one start after Derby negatively impact as well..