The 150th Run for the Roses, held on May 4, was a thrilling affair by any horse racing standard. An 18-1 underdog named Mystic Dan defeated the more highly rated Sierra Leone and Forever Young, winning by a nose. The race was so close that jockey Mystic Dan wasn't even sure he had won the Kentucky Derby, and millions of people watched at home and packed into Churchill Downs for this historic event. We had to wait for official results such as 157,000 people. All of this was good news for Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown of horse racing, will be held this Saturday.
There was just one small problem with the dizziness. For a week, it wasn't at all clear whether the star would show up in Baltimore.
Mystic Dan's trainer did not immediately commit to running his horse in the Preakness, but waited until May 11 to announce that his horse would compete, a fact that reflects current training practices in horse racing. It spoke eloquently. Thoroughbred horses typically do not race until two weeks after their last race. You need more time to recover. Last year, only one Kentucky Derby horse showed up at Old Hilltop. That was Derby winner Mage, who finished third in the Preakness Stakes behind National Treasure and Blazing Sevens. Mage and Blazing Sevens missed the Belmont Stakes two weeks later, and National Treasure finished 6th with 3rd Jewel. See a pattern?
What's frustrating about this is that the owners aren't really looking out for the horse's best interests. That's commendable. The real problem is that horse racing adheres to the Triple Crown schedule as if it were holy scripture, keeping it just two weeks apart. And it's one thing to see the majority of Derby tracks skip the Preakness, it's quite another to see the state of Maryland poised to invest $400 million in the revitalization of Pimlico Race Course–Maryland It was approved by the state Legislature and signed into law just last Thursday — and the Preakness is no longer part of the true Triple Crown. After all, no horse can win the Triple Crown without getting around the central gem.
Why is this so difficult? Horse racing has certainly faced its own set of obstacles in recent years. Controversy over how horses are treated humanely (or inhumanely) has become a legitimate issue. Wouldn't it be safer to spread out the major races? We shouldn't get too defensive, but we're starting to see a pattern where Derby runners don't go to the Preakness, but they still often come to the Belmont. In other words, it is the second jewel that has lost its luster. Hello? What happened to all the respect Pimlico had when state bonds were being sought?
Certainly, the simplest solution would be to run races four weeks apart. Baltimore is a great place to visit from late May to early June. The average high temperature in July in Belmont, New York is around 80 degrees, which isn't bad either. If necessary, races can be spaced further apart and even postponed until the fall. Why not? It's not like a 3-year-old horse has other things to do, like guest host on “Saturday Night Live” or sign a sponsorship deal. The Major League Baseball season often runs from late March to early November. If professional human athletes can do it, we horse athletes can too.
Otherwise, Marylanders will start to think they've been sold a gift certificate. Round 2 is sure to be the most dramatic Triple Crown race. There should still be a chance for him to win the Triple Crown (which is usually not the case in the Belmont Stakes). Or maybe the industry is just happy to accept public funding, but when the time comes, it cares more about Louisville and Belmont than Charm City. What was the probability?
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