Introducing a Triple Crown for Four/Five Year Olds

[ScottJ]

Thank you to everyone for sharing their thoughts. All too often, we lament three years olds being pulled off the track and immediately put into sire duties. Then, we similarly grouse that unsound horses (those pulled from the track due to injury) are becoming baselines in the breeding - effectively, breeding infirmity into the sport.

So, you need to incent horses/owners to remain in training into their four and five year old seasons. As a New York racing fan, I certainly remember the handicap triple crown and the triple tiara. However, these do not have any national audience nor are they generally highlighted as their own entities sufficiently in New York. New York marketing is now focused on big single days - like the Stars and Stripes - perhaps that is the evolution of the game right before our eyes.

The goal is to make the four and five year old seasons so valuable that horses remain in training to take a shot at the bigger prizes over a period of time. While strong sires might not truly be identified until a decade from now, the first steps would be taken to strengthen the sport's recognition, broaden media coverage into the later summer, strengthen bloodlines, and move the older horses from one glory day (Breeder's Cup) onto several at a national level.