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Originally Posted by Fager Fan
It's not a farce. That is the purse. Just because the splits are unusual doesn't make it not valid.
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It's not just the splits, it's the source of the purse that is unique. Whereas typically an owner through starting fees puts up 1-2% of the purse, with the Pegasus World Cup conditions, owners are required to foot the vast majority of the purse.
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The slot owners have input and the guaranteed amounts are what they want, and they're willing to take that in lieu of the normal splits. They still have to run around the track to earn it.
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Last year, 4 horses were able to double their career earnings simply by starting in the race: Neolithic, Semper Fortis, War Envoy, and Eragon. This is the main hole in the format in my opinion. Guaranteed amounts to the
owner are fine, but when an owner can simply add earnings to a horse's official race record, there's a bit of a problem.
Taken to the extreme, you are messing with the stud book (i.e., I can make my well-bred allowance horse a "millionaire" by starting and, regardless of finish, improve his chances of becoming a stallion).
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Who complained last year of the guaranteed amounts supposedly not meaning the purse amount was the purse amount?
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That's not a compelling argument. For one, last year most chatter was drowned out by the anticipation of an Arrogate-California Chrome rematch.
Secondly, a $250,000 guarantee return was somewhat palatable, but this year we are talking about a $400K boost to $650,000. This is way over the top and casts a glaring spotlight on the issues of total purse and individual career earnings.
