What happened to horse racing’s rivalries? Triple Crown spacing debate begins again.
It’s started up again. We thought the issue had died back when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015, followed by Justify in 2018. We were wrong. Five years later, the argument has begun again.
Should we change the spacing of horse racing’s Triple Crown?
Reason: Kentucky Derby winner Mage is the only horse that ran in the May 6 race at Churchill Downs who is also running in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 20, at Pimlico.
Since the Triple Crown races adopted its current format — two weeks from Kentucky Derby to Preakness; three weeks from Preakness to Belmont Stakes — this is the first time only one Derby horse has entered the second leg of the crown.
Thus the rekindled Triple Crown debate. Horse racing 2023 is much different than horse racing 1969. Trainers believe in allowing more time to their equine athletes between starts. Most would never think of running a colt or filly back two weeks after a race. Unless he or she is the Kentucky Derby winner.
“But don’t even thinking about changing it!” Paulick Report editor Ray Paulick tweeted sarcastically Monday. “We want the Preakness to be the Kentucky Derby winner and some tomato cans so we can have a horse going for a Triple Crown win three weeks later.”
Paulick later apologized for his “tomato cans” comment, but his point is not without merit.
There was a time when you could follow horses from one Triple Crown race to another, from Derby to Preakness to Belmont. We had the Secretariat/Sham rivalry in 1973; Affirmed/Alydar in 1978; Sunday Silence/Easy Goer in 1989.
In fact, Sunday Silence’s win over Easy Goer in a breathtaking stretch duel is easily one of the best and most thrilling editions of the Preakness Stakes in its 148-year history. It came two weeks after Sunday Silence and Easy Goer ran 1-2 in the Kentucky Derby. Three weeks after the Preakness, Easy Goer got his revenge, besting Sunday Silence in the Belmont.
No, we didn’t get a Triple Crown winner that year, but we did get a spectacular trio of races that attracted new fans. Now such rivalries are all but lost.
“The Triple Crown is undeniably the number one property, so to speak, in Thoroughbred racing, and I think it’s incumbent upon the sport to take care of the Triple Crown,” NBC’s Randy Moss told Thoroughbred Daily News last year. “Right now, it’s clear that the Preakness has been weakened, demonstrably, and not every year, but most years, by the two-week gap.”
Not everyone agrees.
“Don’t mess with the Triple Crown, good luck Mage!” tweeted Graham Motion, who trained 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom.
Traditionalists argue for the status quo. If Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018) were able to accomplish the feat, shouldn’t future Triple Crown winners be held to the same standard?
Plus, increasing the time between the three races challenges the general public’s attention span. If the Preakness was run closer to Memorial Day and Belmont Stakes closer to July 4, as some have proposed, would the public still be interested?
Professional golf is the counter argument. Casual golf fans might rarely watch weekly PGA tournaments but never miss the majors — the Masters in April; the PGA Championship in May; the U.S. Open in June and the British Open in July.
I’ll admit, I’ve flip-flopped back and forth on the issue. During the 37-year drought between Affirmed and American Pharoah, I was ready for change. After American Pharoah and Justify proved the modern Thoroughbred could accomplish the feat, I said leave well enough alone.
And Saturday’s Preakness field is stronger than you might think. Lexington Stakes winner First Mission is certainly capable of beating Mage. Don’t count out seven-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert with National Treasure. Trainer Chad Brown is gunning for a third Preakness win, this time with Blazing Sevens.
Still, many of racing’s problems have come from an unhealthy resistance to change. The Triple Crown should be three compelling races with robust fields. That’s the least of what racing needs.
