Time to change the TC

[Show Me the Wire]

Why horse racing does not hold the general publics’ interest. Horse racing lets its fans down by allowing racing’s heroes to lose to inferior horses, just like yesterday’s Belmont stakes. Millions of interested fans were once again denied the opportunity to see a champion be named a champion due to the serious flaws in the way the TC is contended. Horse racing allows personal agendas and archaic ideas to give inferior competitors a significant advantage over legitimate contenders and this gives the general public the impression horse racing is not worth being interested in. The public wants to see champions win. The public does not want to see champions beaten continually. Yet the personal agendas and archaic thinking allow champions to be denied.

Jockey’s personal agendas, like Bailey’s yesterday is detrimental to the sport. Bailey’s agenda was to do everything to impede SJ’s chances to win to the detriment of Bailey’s trainer’s and owners’ interests of Bailey’s mount. Bailey has the obligation to ride his mount to the best placing for the owner’s, trainer and wagering public. Bailey certainly did not ride with those interests in mind. His only interest was to stop SJ from winning, no matter what price paid by his mount and the mount’s connections.

Additionally, racing’s unfair rules allows a non-participant become a legitimate competitor in a championship series. This is the only sport that has a championship series that allows competitors to skip part of the play-offs. It is akin a basketball team losing the first around of the play-offs, letting it rest to the championship game, and letting it play for the championship against the team that has played its way through each play-off series. The fresh rested team has the advantage. TC rules allow this scenario every year.

As for me, I am tired of seeing horses skip the Preakness, rest up and train to run a 1 ½ miles against horses that have used tremendous amount energy playing in every play-off series. It is time horse racing leveled the playing field.

A good change for the sport happened when Derby entrants needed to qualify by graded stakes earnings. The Belmont needs to change by introducing rules limiting entrants to those horses that competed in the Preakness or the Peter Pan.

Training methods and medication have changed since the inception of the TC and racing needs to recognize these changes and the impact these changes on horses’ performances . 100 years ago it may have been a detriment to not race for 5 weeks, but not now. With today’s training methods and medications it is an advantage to train up to a race, a luxury the Preakness winner does not have, especially if the Preakness winner also ran or won in the Derby.

SJ did not lose because of distance limitations he lost because of selfishness and an uneven playing field, which allows KD losers to gain a significant advantage.

No matter what Mr. Servis says it is time for the TC series to change with the times and keep up with advancements made in training and medication.

Regards.
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[Tom]

You are saying "dumb down" the TC to let undeserving horses win?
Sorry, I don't agree. Champions overcome everything. Sham, no slouch, ran his eyes out forcing Big Red in the Belmont. Alydar changed his strategy in the saem race. The real champs won both times. I have no doubt had they gone another mile and a half, Alydar would never have passed Affirmed.
In spite of all the good times, great races, and crowd attachment, Smarty Jones did not step up to the plate and hit a hommer. He does not deserve to be put alongside the real champions. He has special place in history-another 2-3 horse after the TC series.
He couldn't turn on that "something" when he needed it.
What's next?
Enough attention to a bad crop of 3 ear olds.

[cj]

Originally posted by Show Me the Wire

...The Belmont needs to change by introducing rules limiting entrants to those horses that competed in the Preakness or the Peter Pan...



I don't really want to see anything changed. What good would the above do? You'd just get a bunch of horses in the Peter Pan for a workout. They wouldn't try to win. That is even worse for racing.

[Show Me the Wire]

Tom:

I am not saying dumb down anything. I am saying acknowledge the realities of this era. Training methods and medication have improved the ability of trianers to train a horse up to a race, giving the rested horse a significant advantage.

Horse racing is the only sport that allows participants to pick and choose what play-off game from a series of play-off games to compete in.

Does a horse winning the TC because he beat one or two horses dumb down the TC? In the past Many T.C. winners beat short fields. The fields were short because there was no compelling reason to skip the Preakness and run in the Belmont. Today there is the compelling reason of the lucrative purse.

In the past the T.C. was about prestige and breeding, not a million dollar purse awaiting in the Belomont to be had by beating horses that have expended precious energy in all the play-off races.

Better yet the T.C. should be about prestige and not purse money. The purse for the Belmont should be reduced significantly to a 50K purse to a winner that does not compete in all three legs of the T.C. Then we will see all the trainers that are willing to skip the Preakness after losing the Derby, that will aim or enter their horses in the Belmont.



Regards,
Show Me the Wire

perception is reality

[ceejay]

My vote would be for "no change." The TC must be earned, and overcoming challengers (no matter the connection's motives) is part of that.

[penguinfan]

SMTW, your on your own here, no changes should be made, it just makes it that much more valuable to the next horse that does win the Triple Crown. Reguardless of what anyone says, this was a weak, though not horrible crop of 3yo's and Smarty Jones does not deserve to have TC next to his name and thus Dumb Down the acomplishments of the great horses in racing history.

[tanda]

The Triple Crown series is not a play-off.

The Belmont is not the final play-off series.

Horses are not eliminated by losing a TC race as competitors are when they lose a play-off series. Thus, skipping a race does not allow you to advance without risk of elimination since there is no risk of elimination through losing the race skipped.

Only tennis players who play in the Australian, French and Wimbledon can then play in the U.S. Open?

Same for golf, auto racing, etc.?

False analogy.

[Show Me the Wire]

Originally posted by tanda
The Triple Crown series is not a play-off.

The Belmont is not the final play-off series.

Horses are not eliminated by losing a TC race as competitors are when they lose a play-off series. Thus, skipping a race does not allow you to advance without risk of elimination since there is no risk of elimination through losing the race skipped.

Only tennis players who play in the Australian, French and Wimbledon can then play in the U.S. Open?

Same for golf, auto racing, etc.?

False analogy.


You have to qualify to play in the U.S. Open either by invitation (rankings) or qualifying tournaments. A participant in the U.S. Open has to earn their way into the field. The same in Golf, etc. all the big events have qualification requirements.

Horse racing is the only sport that allows contenders to compete in a championship series without qualifying, except for the KD. As posted earlier, a horse needs to qualify to be in the Derby. I do not think qualifying dumb downs the Derby, but makes the Derby more legitimate.

I may be on my own here, but the way the series is set up it is not realistic for this era. And as long as it continues under the archaic thinking all we will see is the frehened horse laying in wait for weakened opponents. at the Belmont.

How many posters believe Birdstone would have won the Belmont if he competed in the Preakness? That is the threshold question to be answered.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

perception is reality

[cj]

Actually, the Preakness and Belmont have qualifying rules as well, there are just never enough entries to make them come into play.

If you limited the fields the way you recommend, you'd have very short Belmont fields. Most of the beaten horses have no desire to continue to be beaten by the same horse.

By the way, welcome back!

[CryingForTheHorses]

SHOW ME THE WIRE
I have to agree!On some aspects of your post...Champions overcome ALL obstacles,so that puts Smarty a nice horse but not great!!. Yes Bailey is a real rat for what he did in the belmont, Read a different post I made.I have stated before in other posts the importance of racing meds on these horses, Yes you can use different meds on your horses,depending on what you need,Lots of cheap horse never breeze after they are fit,medications help them along, Gone are the days of bringing up the 2yos slowly,Im a believer that if a horse is fit..Why waste him in the morn..I like to be paid when I breeze my horse.I have never had a horse inany kind of races like this so I have no comment on the rules change, Maybe if I get a Derby horse Ill squawk

[Show Me the Wire]

Originally posted by McSchell_Racing
SHOW ME THE WIRE
I have to agree!On some aspects of your post...Champions overcome ALL obstacles,so that puts Smarty a nice horse but not great!!. Yes Bailey is a real rat for what he did in the belmont, Read a different post I made.I have stated before in other posts the importance of racing meds on these horses, Yes you can use different meds on your horses,depending on what you need,Lots of cheap horse never breeze after they are fit,medications help them along, Gone are the days of bringing up the 2yos slowly,Im a believer that if a horse is fit..Why waste him in the morn..I like to be paid when I breeze my horse.I have never had a horse inany kind of races like this so I have no comment on the rules change, Maybe if I get a Derby horse Ill squawk

McShell_Racing:

I guess part of the problem is that people that do not own race horses do not understand the advantages of legal medication in training up to a race. The above statement is not a knock at posters that do not own horses. Today's techniques give a significant advantage to the freshened horse. The game is changed. Horses off a layoff are no longer at a disadvantage against recently raced horses. Actually, sound freshened horses have a significant advantage in that they can be trained into racing fitness with today's medications.

Everyone ask yourselves how many times have you seen horses win after extended lay offs even periods up to a year. Baffert just did it with Appalacian Thunder recently. the horse ran its highest speed figure in Alw company after being off for one year.

This scenario happens frequently and it is possible becuase of medication allowing the trainer the ability to train a horse into racing fitness without racing. The old saying there is nothing like a race, is passe. There is nothing like a freshening without a race to get the animal into its best racing shape.

Sound, properly trained medicated freshened horses have a significant advantage over sound recently raced horses. That is the reality of today.

Racing needs to adjust to the current age and account for the significant advantage a Bird Stone or Empire Maker gets by skipping the Preakness without having a significant racing effort prior to the Belmont.

CJ:

Thanks for the welcome back, but my stay will be short-lived, until I get settled in Arizona.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

perception is reality

[alysheba88]

If you cant lose weight get your stomache stapled. Not good in relationships get plastic surgery. Dont make enough money? Borrow and forget about tomorrow. Global warming? Who cares wont effect me.

Cant get a TC winner, change the rules.

[PaceAdvantage]

DON'T CHANGE A THING!

Why would you want to change something that isn't broken? The very thing that makes this whole trip SO EXCITING is that it is VERY TOUGH to win!

Why in the world would you want to make it any easier?

120,000+ showed up at Belmont. Only 60,000+ came to see Secretariat, and that was back when racing was supposedly in the GOLDEN AGE????

Betting handle has INCREASED (nationwide, total handle for the YEAR) every year for the past 10 years!!! Why change a thing?

[kenwoodallpromos]

The Rebel Stakes, the AR Derby, and the KY Derby is the TC Smarty was shooting for and he won $5 million for That TC! So what is the problem? No trophy?

[SilverSow]

If you're going to change any of the criteria... length of races, time between the races, anything... you better call it something different... 'cause it'd no longer be the Triple Crown...

Geez, while you're at it why not let older horses run too?

Dave

P.S. And YES, I hate the Designated Hitter... and Inter-league play as well... LOL

[Valuist]

I think we should leave it the same. Somebody in the not too distant future IS going to do it. Real Quiet came within an inch or two of it and Smarty came very close also. I do agree on the comments re: Bailey and I'd include Solis in there as well. I was shocked to see Bailey riding Eddington life and death just as the field hit the backstretch. It really looked like he was sacrificing the horse. As for Solis I thought he was crazy for that premature move late on the backstretch.

[Tom]

SMTW......
It didn't click when I read your post.
Welcome back.
Hope all is well.
:D