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.

[SundayStar]

Originally Posted by Danzig

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.

i agree with you on how to make preakness day a bigger day. and wouldn't it be easier to attract top horses(i.e. Wise Dan) if the preakness was 4 weeks after the derby? zero top horses that run on the undercard of the derby are going to run two weeks later. make it 4 weeks and you're gonna get some...especially if the purses are nice.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by SundayStar

i agree with you on how to make preakness day a bigger day. and wouldn't it be easier to attract top horses(i.e. Wise Dan) if the preakness was 4 weeks after the derby? zero top horses that run on the undercard of the derby are going to run two weeks later. make it 4 weeks and you're gonna get some...especially if the purses are nice.

what i'm saying is instead of trying to appeal to the other horses who ran derby day, they need to work backwards from what the belmont has scheduled for 3 weeks later. their day is a good fit for what will happen in ny.
moving it to a month later won't necessarily help them, and there's a lot of resistance to it. and i don't know that all derby horses would show back up regardless of when the preakness is.

also, not all top horses are there on derby day, and a lot of top stables operate based on nyra and its schedule-so fill a niche with those people. they can draw top horses if they do it right. but just kvetching about the schedule isn't a way to make the preakness and undercard better.

look at their offerings in the other threads those two days. they need to shake things up. not every horse going to belmont on belmont stakes day runs in ky five weeks before. they need to re-do their races. they need preps for 3 weeks later, good purses, etc.

[SundayStar]

Originally Posted by Danzig

what i'm saying is instead of trying to appeal to the other horses who ran derby day, they need to work backwards from what the belmont has scheduled for 3 weeks later. their day is a good fit for what will happen in ny.
moving it to a month later won't necessarily help them, and there's a lot of resistance to it. and i don't know that all derby horses would show back up regardless of when the preakness is.

also, not all top horses are there on derby day, and a lot of top stables operate based on nyra and its schedule-so fill a niche with those people. they can draw top horses if they do it right. but just kvetching about the schedule isn't a way to make the preakness and undercard better.

look at their offerings in the other threads those two days. they need to shake things up. not every horse going to belmont on belmont stakes day runs in ky five weeks before. they need to re-do their races. they need preps for 3 weeks later, good purses, etc.

that's part of the stickiness of it. they would need cooperation from belmont for it to work. personally, i think it would be ideal if all 3 triple crown races were spaced 4 weeks apart. of course that would cause a domino effect in stakes scheduling not only for churchill, pimlico and belmont, but saratoga, monmouth, etc. as well. i really think it could work though. imo, there are too many stakes races. a major scheduling re-haul is needed. less stakes races = higher quality stakes. as for derby horses returning for the preakness - no, not all of them would. but i believe more would than do now....just because trainers are much more comfortable running 4 weeks apart than 2.

[Danzig]

dunno. 7f, a mile?
but in looking over the cards that steve has posted, there's nothing that could be construed as a prep for the met mile. what, the special is the only for older on dirt, and it's 1 3/16.
i know the mile just moved, but now pimlico has a good reason to make at least one change.

i'd rather they try to fix the card than just say they want to change dates. and it's probably more doable at this point.