BEYER: Crown thriving but tinkering could be in order

[Danzig]

i disagree that you tinker with what is working. the trick is to make more races than these three into big draws. the tc is huge because the supposed best of the best come to clash. we need some other races that do the same.

[slotdirt]

I don't agree with the field size argument, but I do agree with his point on limiting earnings to races only earned on dirt.

[Travis Stone]

The Preakness undercard will always be up against it. Trainers do not want to wheel-back in two weeks, and with so many races at CD, it's hard to tell an owner we're going to wait for Pimlico.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

The Preakness undercard will always be up against it. Trainers do not want to wheel-back in two weeks, and with so many races at CD, it's hard to tell an owner we're going to wait for Pimlico.

I think the Preakness undercard's problem is more a testament to how bad things are in Maryland right now than it is to the spacing of the undercard races in relation to Derby day.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I think the Preakness undercard's problem is more a testament to how bad things are in Maryland right now than it is to the spacing of the undercard races in relation to Derby day.

So people are not interested in the Dixie because Maryland Racing is in the red? I think it has more to do with the turf race at CD on Derby day and the Manhattan on Belmont day. I thought Beyer's point about raising the purses of these races is terrific.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

So people are not interested in the Dixie because Maryland Racing is in the red? I think it has more to do with the turf race at CD on Derby day and the Manhattan on Belmont day. I thought Beyer's point about raising the purses of these races is terrific.

Which was my point exactly. There really aren't purses to be raised in Maryland these days. If Andy Beyer wants to contribute from his retirement account to the Gallorette, that'd be great, but otherwise, Maryland racing is pretty close to being at rock bottom right now.

[randallscott35]

Why change anything? Everyone looks forward to it...and as far as I can tell the fact that there hasn't been a Triple Crown winner kind of builds the mystique of the TC as far as I'm concerned.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Which was my point exactly. There really aren't purses to be raised in Maryland these days. If Andy Beyer wants to contribute from his retirement account to the Gallorette, that'd be great, but otherwise, Maryland racing is pretty close to being at rock bottom right now.

Did you read what he wrote? If MID is willing to pay the insurance premiums on a potential $5.5 million bonus they could divert those funds to the purses on Preakness day.

There's always going to be a "red headed step child" factor to the Preakness undercard because there's more to winning the Churchill Downs than the Maryland Sprint Handicap. The problem that the Preakness undercard has is that the races are rarely competitive and lead to the parade of favorites that has occurred each of the last two years.

[Thunder Gulch]

I love the Preakness undercard with ungraded stakes races maxed out with 14 who are eligible for non winnners of 1.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i disagree that you tinker with what is working. the trick is to make more races than these three into big draws. the tc is huge because the supposed best of the best come to clash. we need some other races that do the same.

I'm on board with this theory. Nothing needs to be tweaked with the current Triple Crown races.
But try to create something else that would generate the buzz and excitment that the the TC offers. Some sort of 2nd half/summer Triple Crown series. Which would eventually lead in to the Breeders Cup and hopefully carry over some of the fans/viewers that only follow the TC circuit.