Trivia Question
 

What do the two Gr1 Turf races this weekend - Belmont Derby and United Nations - have in common?

just a guess...
 

Only Gr1 handicap turf races in America?


EDIT: I think the Manhattan at Bel is a handicap so this guess is wrong

Two race - two million in purses - neither one of them drew a Gr1 winner on turf.
Maybe we have too many Gr1 turf races?

grass

Side Glance is a G1 winner.

Your are right - I mis-read those crappy PP lines BRIS has for the foreign races.
Looked like just an open stake.

So 1 for 2 million.

Doesn't this mean we don't have too many? If we had an abundance, we would have seen more G1 winners in these races.

How is that?

Better trivia question. How many Gr 1 turf races for 3yos have there been in the US?

Interesting. Do you thinking that being so close to Million Day at Arlington has anything to do with it?

Off the top of my head.
The Manhattan, the two at Belmont this past weekend, the Hirsch Turf Classic, Arlington Million are the only G1 turf races for older horses that I can think of.

3UP R T 1 GULFSTREAM PARK TURF H. GP T 9-Feb
3UP R T 1 MAKER'S 46 MILE S. KEE T 11-Apr
3UP R T 1 WOODFORD RESERVE TURF CLASSIC S. CD T 3-May
3UP R T 1 MAN O' WAR S. BEL T 11-May
3UP R T 1 WOODFORD RESERVE MANHATTAN H. BEL T 7-Jun
3UP R T 1 SHOEMAKER MILE S. SA T 14-Jun
3YO R T 1 BELMONT DERBY (formerly the JAMAICA H.) BEL T 5-JUL
3UP R T 1 UNITED NATIONS S. MTH T 6-Jul
3UP R T 1 ARLINGTON MILLION S. AP T 16-Aug
3YO R T 1 SECRETARIAT S. AP T 16-Aug
3UP R T 1 SWORD DANCER INVITATIONAL S. SAR T 17-Aug
3UP R T 1 JOE HIRSCH TURF CLASSIC INVITATIONAL S. BEL T
Add in the BC Turf Sprint, BC Mile and BC Turf.
Also, The Hollywood Derby for 3YO has not been rescheduled.
There are just TWO G1 turf races for 3YO

My point is, if you can only get one legitimate Gr 1 horse for that kind of money, why not pay out Gr3 level purses and get the same fields?

I look at it this way. The money is there to attract large fields. If there are not enough G1 winners to go around at that particular period on the calendar, good for the horses of lesser stock. Now there are two more G1 winners.
These events will catch on with connections in the coming years.
Oh, don't forget, the UN Stakes was run at Mth the following day. The fact that there were two G1 races on grass on the same weekend with close geographical proximity, connections had choices. Besides, The UN has much more history and carries prestige as well.

Who is the last 3yo that ran in the United Nations or any of the 3 and up races run prior to the Secretariat? It would be the same as wondering why none of the runners in the Derby had won the Donn or the Santa Anita Handicap. (yeah I know they are listed 4 and up) The idea of these races was not to get US Gr 1 turf winners, because there haven't been any other Gr 1 races other than, I believe, the BC Juvenile Turf for the age group. It was to get the US horses that were Gr 1 capable and the internationals who had performed well in Group races. It did ok for a first go around and they were pretty decent groups all in all.