(Society Man & Dornoch / Photos by Holly M. Smith)
Horse Racing Faces It’s Next Biggest Problem…Don’t Dodge It.
By Dennis Trusty / Guest Writer:
For a few years now, horse racing’s biggest problem was and has been the actual use of illegal drugs and the perception that the entire sport was “using.” The stigma and the curse reached the same massive scale as Major League Baseball during the height of the steroid era. And I think, and hope, that we are just now starting to really make progress on cracking down on the major violators and violations.
But as that problem is getting more and more resolved, we may now see a new problem emerging. One that we may now face on the horizon. When baseball had its’ “Steroid Era” — with the likes of Bonds, Sosa, McGuire hitting home runs like they were selling hot dogs — it was the most exciting time in all of baseball. After it was gone? Baseball “dulled” because everyone was so used to seeing the long ball and, suddenly, the long ball was long gone.
Horse racing’s long ball is the Graded Stakes races.
But if every week has a Graded Stakes race does it really matter?
As we have now passed Haskell Week and entering Jim Dandy Week, I am noticing some problems.
The entire week, we talked about Fierceness scratching from the Haskell, and being pointed, instead, to this week’s Jim Dandy. And, then there was “chatter” about a potential scratch of eventual winner, Dornoch, as well.
The G3 Molly Pitcher had a field of seven, headlined by Idiomatic. Just a few were willing to take a swing and try to defeat her. Scratch that. It went to a field of 5. And, one of the “main contenders ” — a mare who had 38 starts with 8 wins and 12 seconds and 895,000 earnings — was out, too. Don’t worry, though. All one had to do was tune to Saratoga and watch her in another field of five in a G2 event for less purse money.
Thorpedo Anna in a G1? It’s a field of 5.
So if you have a filly that can beat two horses and get lucky? Congratulations. One of these days soon, in an auction book near you, you can find a name where it lists that the mare is “G1 Placed.” That’ll get you an extra, few, hundred thousand dollars in the pocketbook.
But does it do any good for the sport?
Does it do any good for the game?
Does it help the fans?
And, there’s another problem coming within the next month when the Mountaineer West Virginia Derby AND the Ellis Park Derby are both run within a week of each other. If you don’t like your spot or don’t like how tough the field may be? Just scratch. Run in the other place.
How do we fix this problem?
There are many people, with many ideas on how best to address the situation.
I just wish we could and would pick one and go with it:
I think the best option is to do away with Grade’s until the end of the year.
Look how many times have we said that a Grade 3 Stakes have come up tougher than Grade 1 Stakes?
Plus, to casual people, what sounds better:
“Come out to the race track… There’s three Grade 1 Stakes this weekend.”
Or…
“Come out to the race track. There’s horses who will be running for over $2 million in 3 races. And you can bet on them.”
If we — you — have 8 home runs in a game, everyone can get excited. Again. We want more of that.
But, if every above-average player can hit a home run? Well, what’s so special about a home run.
If every race track in Nascar has a major pile-up or exciting, inches-only victory on the wire, why is Daytona and Talladega special anymore?
If horse racing has a G3 or a G2 every, single, dag-gum weekend, what’s so special?
Instead, can’t we have an East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast “division” and require all of our tracks to spread out the races; create more drama and anticipation for the Stakes?
Instead, can’t we communicate with each other and put more time in-between all of the Stakes for the same “groups” of horses so that they are not all bunched on the same weekend?
Instead, of entering just to see what race comes up easier, why don’t we have a rule where you can only scratch by veterinarian rule and that the horse must be sidelined for a minimum of a couple of weeks, at the least.
If we — as horse racing fans — cannot fix this problem soon?
Well, we, too, may end up with a pitch clock; road course races, or some expanded number for playoffs that include nearly every single team.
Quality races need to be defined by quality horses. Only.
Quality races can only get better if we have better and better horses in them. Only.
We cannot have quality, if we are only interested in quantity. Only.
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Publish date : 2024-07-25 01:11:33
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Author : pksportsnews
Publish date : 2024-07-25 05:25:13
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.