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[Mark Peel via Derby]

 Carol wrote: It was only 3 years ago that Justify won the Triple Crown and 3 years before him that American Pharoah did the same. 
 
I'm not advocating longer spacing between the Triple Crown races in order to generate more (or fewer) Triple Crown winners.   There haven't been all that many TC winners in the first place, and that's as it should be.
I'm advocating more spacing because a two-week interval between a 1 1/4 mile race and a 1 3/16 mile race simply doesn't reflect modern racing—owners, trainers, and horses alike don't want to wheel back into the Preakness after only two weeks' recovery.
Of course, we can continue to run the Preakness as we always have—but it all but guarantees that the second jewel in racing's Triple Crown will be a less competitive, less interesting race.  The Kentucky Derby's point system comes as close as possible to guaranteeing a high-quality field.  Running the Preakness two weeks later guarantees the opposite—many defections, and "new shooters" who weren't good enough to qualify for the Derby.  

The 147th Derby was one of the closest ever: four horses had a legitimate shot at winning with less than half a furlong to the finish line, and if there had been Trackus GPS tags in their saddle cloths, the numbers would have shown an even closer and more competitive race than the 1/2 length final margin.  Yet 16 of 19 Derby entries have passed on the Preakness, including several, like Essential Quality, Hot Rod Charlie, Known Agenda, Highly Motivated, and Rock Your World, that had excuses and might have competed in the Preakness with four weeks' rest.  The Preakness would have been a better race with some or all of them in it.  It's shaping up now to be a very uninspiring contest.  And, to your point, makes the possibility of an "unworthy" TC winner more likely.
Civres



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