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Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I think the BC Mile still deserves Grade 1 status.
I think it's more a matter of it not being anywhere near the caliber of the Classic. I consider the Classic to be more like a Grade 1+ or Grade 1++ compared to the typical Grade 1 we see during the year. If you grade the BC Mile relative to the typical Grade 1, it stands up most years. We run a lot of mediocre Grade 1s these days compared to years ago.
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It's supposed to be a championship event--for a division that does not exist on the main track in this country--not a dust up between Grade 3 types, top class horses on the decline, layoff horses rounding to form and some cute attempts at padding the stallion resume.
Put it on the undercard where it belongs. They used to run both a 7f Stakes and a 9f Stakes on the under card at the BC in previous years under various names (Smile, Sunday Silence, Skywalker, Seabiscuit). This mock Grade 1 is purely for the commercial breeders to be able to advertise yet another "BC winner" (if a 7yo Grade 3-calibur gelding doesn't upstage the proceedings).
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As to whether we need it, it does have the detrimental effect of taking some high quality versatile horses out of the Sprint and Classic. But in most cases I think those horses were not serious contenders (at least for the Classic) or the connections felt they were disadvantaged because the distance was too long or short in the Sprint or Classic.
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Something is wrong when Preakness winners, Hollywood Gold Cup winners, Travers winners, Woodward winners, Whitney winners, Donn winners, and Haskell winners are skipping the Classic to run in the Big Ass Dirt Mile...never mind all the Forego winners, Triple Bend winners, Ancient Title winners, DeFrancis Dash winners, skipping the Sprint.
...and something is worse when horses like Dakota Phone, Furthest Land, Tamarkuz, and Tapizar are "BC winners".
If the charade is going to continue, at the very least they should make the Oklahoma and BC Columbia Derbies Win-And-You're-In events for the Dirt Mile...
Just think of the reverse:
-Precisionist in the Dirt Mile 3 straight years instead of an awesome display of versatility winning the Sprint and placing in the Classic in back-to-back years
-Black Tie Affair in the Dirt Mile 3 straight years instead of an awesome display of versatility winning the Classic after placing in the Sprint the previous year
-Gulch and Afleet passing on the 1988 Sprint so that Play The King and Olympic Prospect couldn't battle it out for supremacy of Grade 3 sprinters
-Smile opting out of the 1986 Sprint after placing as a 3yo in 1985 so that Pine Tree Lane and Bedside Promise could duel for the sprint Eclipse
-A.P. Indy ducking the Classic after 2 straight losses to salvage his reputation before heading to stud
-Tiznow opting for the Dirt Mile in 2001 because he'd been laid up most of the year and lost both his comeback starts
