Farewell to The Ohio Derby

[tjfla]

Ya really not a big loss. Was like the 3rd string 3yr old every year

[Kasept]

This has nothing to do with the quality of the Ohio Derby... They're suspending it for the year and using the money to support the purses for the horsemen on the grounds. It's the right thing to do instead of giving that money to out of towners that come in one day for the graded stake, take the money and leave.

They can re-evaluate next year and bring it back if things are better without losing the grading.

[Ogygian]

Originally Posted by Kasept

This has nothing to do with the quality of the Ohio Derby... They're suspending it for the year and using the money to support the purses for the horsemen on the grounds. It's the right thing to do instead of giving that money to out of towners that come in one day for the graded stake, take the money and leave.

They can re-evaluate next year and bring it back if things are better without losing the grading.

That is good to hear...I have a question though...wouldn't it be better to cut a few days off the meet, maybe have bigger fields, then use that purse money from the days the track isn't running to run the Ohio Derby. How often do they actually cancel a stakes race, then bring it back?

[Suffolk Shippers]

Originally Posted by Ogygian

That is good to hear...I have a question though...wouldn't it be better to cut a few days off the meet, maybe have bigger fields, then use that purse money from the days the track isn't running to run the Ohio Derby. How often do they actually cancel a stakes race, then bring it back?

I think the best parallel for you to look at is the Pimlico Special or the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs. Both PIM and SUF have cancelled these signature races intermittently through out the last ten years and brought them back when they felt they could.

In the 2000's, SUF has run the Mass Cap in 2000-2002, off in 2003, back in 2004, off in 2005 and 2006, and back for 2007 and 2008. Of course, you lose the races graded status after it's been off for awhile. I believe the Mass Cap is back at GIII this year. So, it's more common than you think.

The last few editions of the Mass Cap have been enjoyable, it's always nice to see better quality flesh run on the grounds. However, like Steve said, it's essentially just a money grab for out of towners. The local strings really can't compete with them...for example, last year Zito won two of the big races on Mass Cap day (at least), and some other non-Suffolk trainers shipped in to grab the money, like Anthony Dutrow and others.

Eliminating these money grab races at lower level tracks once in awhile preserves the money in the modest purses the local strings run for, and it's done more as an appreciation to the local horseman in leaner times. The tracks know they would be nothing without the local strings that patronize year to year. It's better to keep those folks happy and afloat and use the $500,000 worth of purses from an Ohio Derby, Mass Cap, Pim Special, etc to buoy the local purses instead from time to time.

[philcski]

Somewhat lost in the shuffle...

the Ohio Derby WILL now be run this year. Oct. 3rd, with a purse of $150k (the minimum for a G2).

http://www.thistledown.com/NR/rdonly...ioDerbyNom.pdf

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106594.html

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by philcski

Somewhat lost in the shuffle...

the Ohio Derby WILL now be run this year. Oct. 3rd, with a purse of $150k (the minimum for a G2).

http://www.thistledown.com/NR/rdonly...ioDerbyNom.pdf

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106594.html

For $150k, the race won't attract much. It wouldn't be a bad spot for a decent 3yo filly as they could pick up some easy Grade 2 blacktype.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by philcski

Somewhat lost in the shuffle...

the Ohio Derby WILL now be run this year. Oct. 3rd, with a purse of $150k (the minimum for a G2).

http://www.thistledown.com/NR/rdonly...ioDerbyNom.pdf

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106594.html

I guess that's according to script....Ohio.

:-)

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by philcski

Somewhat lost in the shuffle...

the Ohio Derby WILL now be run this year. Oct. 3rd, with a purse of $150k (the minimum for a G2).

http://www.thistledown.com/NR/rdonly...ioDerbyNom.pdf

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106594.html

Honestly if the state wants the race to run, THEY should fund it instead of running over the top of contractual agreements. Running it under these circumstances is a waste of time and money. I realize that the 5 cards eliminated will be crap racing but it is a not a good thing to have a govt agency tell private businesses how to spend its money. Pass the damn slots (with the pruses getting a reasonable amount), give your states racing business a chance to compete against surrounding slot tracks (except naturally the bluegrass state) and you wont have to worry about cancelling the freakin Ohio Derby. And while you are at it either further fund the recruiting slush fund for Tressel or stop playing USC.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Honestly if the state wants the race to run, THEY should fund it instead of running over the top of contractual agreements. Running it under these circumstances is a waste of time and money. I realize that the 5 cards eliminated will be crap racing but it is a not a good thing to have a govt agency tell private businesses how to spend its money. Pass the damn slots (with the pruses getting a reasonable amount), give your states racing business a chance to compete against surrounding slot tracks (except naturally the bluegrass state) and you wont have to worry about cancelling the freakin Ohio Derby. And while you are at it either further fund the recruiting slush fund for Tressel or stop playing USC.

While I agree with you about government agency getting involved with private business... they already passed slots in Ohio (July 15th, shortly after the state of Kentucky whiffed as normal on their chance) and my guess is this action was tied into that bill somehow.