Is it Time Now?

[King Glorious]

To change the TC series or do we wait till we get another couple of winners in the next five years? Today was anti-climactic for me after American Pharoah. I think people got comfortable in feeling that it was becoming more difficult because of the long break between winners. I felt that all of the near misses signaled that it was actually becoming easier. First, start with the way horses are bred now. You have fewer and fewer that are bred to excel at longer distances. So you go into the TC series with maybe 3-4 horses that you feel could be contenders to win the series. After the Derby, only one of those horses runs back in the Preakness. The advantage that horse then holds over the Belmont field is often huge and even when the Derby/Preakness winner lost in NY, you still felt it was an upset and not a case where a better horse won.

My feeling has always been that a Derby at 9f becomes harder to win, not easier. The reasoning is because there would be more horses that can handle the distance and be logical contenders. By spacing the Preakness out to a month later, you’d increase the chances of the top contenders returning instead of sitting out. Keep it at 9.5f. A month later, run a 10f Belmont. The 12f is no longer a test to see which of the top 3yos can challenge their elders at the championship distance of 12f because that’s not where the championships are contested anymore.

Fresher horses running at distances they can handle better would make the series tougher, not easier. Or we can hold on to traditions, however outdated they are, and wait til we get another few winners in the next 6-8 years and it becomes boring and commonplace.