I know these might sound as if they are a number of changes and the thread asked for one but I'd just put it all under the heading of changing the 3yo season:
Reduce the Derby to 9f, keep the Preakness at 9.5f, and reduce the Belmont to 10f. We don't need a 12f Belmont anymore to see which 3yo's will be able to go on and compete against their elders at that distance in the fall since we no longer have 12f races in the fall.
Keep the Derby on the first Saturday in May, move the Preakness to the first Saturday in June, and move the Belmont to the Fourth of July.
Raise the purse of the Derby to $3 million. The Preakness purse would be $1 million if the Derby winner doesn't show up, $1.5 million if the Derby winner is there, $2 million if the Derby 1-2 are there, $2.5 million if the Derby 1-2-3 are there. The Belmont purse would be $1 million if neither TC race winner is there, $2 million if one is there, $2.5 million if both are there.
Bring back the TC bonus. Score it 10-5-3-1 for first through fourth so that way the winner of two races is guaranteed no worse than a split of the pot. Make a horse have to run in all three races to be eligible. Make the bonus $2 million. Have a $5 million bonus for a TC sweep.
Have all graded 3yo stakes after the TC include a purse upgrade of $100k if u get a horse that ran third in a TC race, $200k if u get a horse that ran second in a TC race, $500k if u get a TC race winner. Have that upgrade doubled if u get two such horses, tripled if u get three such horses.
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Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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