When Was The Last Time.....

[Silver Charm]

We had a 2-Time Big Cap winner (now a 3)
A Belmont Stakes winner
A Breeders Cup Classic winner
2 different Travers winners
And a Met Mile winner  

Running on the same day. Probably never!! I\'m so sick of people complaining about the quality of racing today. Its about Big Days, and Big Fields with Big Handle. The last two create instances where the racing might be a little cheaper from a quality standpoint. Nobody wants to bet on or fill race 5 horse 3X Allowances races anymore. Its a National game now......

[richiebee]

Silver Charm Wrote:
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> We had a 2-Time Big Cap winner (now a 3)
> A Belmont Stakes winner
> A Breeders Cup Classic winner
> 2 different Travers winners
> And a Met Mile winner  
>
> Running on the same day. Probably never!! I\'m so
> sick of people complaining about the quality of
> racing today. Its about Big Days, and Big Fields
> with Big Handle. The last two create instances
> where the racing might be a little cheaper from a
> quality standpoint. Nobody wants to bet on or fill
> race 5 horse 3X Allowances races anymore. Its a
> National game now......

Silver, its mostly old guys, like myself, who complain, who make you sick.

As a young fella, what you may not remember is that good quality horses used
to run five days per week, not just weekends and holidays. There weren\'t
graded stakes on weekdays obviously, but you might see a young prospect being
unveiled who would end up in those stakes. You might see a claiming horse
moving up the scale, who might be part of a racing rags to riches story, like
John Henry.

Today, the young prospects are being prepped for a run at the Derby. The more
successful these prospects are, the more likely it is they will enjoy early
retirement. Claiming horses are rarely moved up the ladder, because the purse
structure/claiming structure allows for owners/trainers to profit by dropping horses first race off the claim.

Lets summarize everyday racing around the US:

NYRA: short fields of nondescript horses running in crumbling, decrepit
facilities. An unappetizing parade of short priced Jake and Rudy favorites.

Florida: expanded GP schedule, now you have two Calders: The real Calder, and
Calder at GP during the weekdays.

California; so many short fields.

Silver, I have as serious a case of equihippicitis (the love of horses
and racing) as anyone on this board. My entire life from the time I was 18 has
been shaped by my love of horses, horse racing, and betting on horse racing.
I also am the product of a generation which was not afraid to speak up, to try
to change things for the better.

I love the BIG days, the Triple Crown, the Breeder\'s Cup, the holiday cards,
the theme days, even the \"Muskrat Ramble\", the day at Belmont devoted solely
to NY breds. The boutique meets at Keeneland and to a lesser extent, the Spa.
My love for these days has been heightened by the fact that I PAY ALMOST NO
ATTENTION TO WEEKDAY RACING, even though there is nothing schedule wise which
would prevent me from betting on the weekdays.

Can Racing be viable if built on a concept where the disparity between the BIG
DAYS and the everydays is so great?

Silver, Racing needs help now. It needs help from both the Silver Charms, who
point out the positives of Racing, and the Richiebees, who kvetch and complain
about the things that are wrong with Racing, that can be improved.

[Silver Charm]

I agree with quite a bit of that. There probably isnt the same # of quality horses around now like you feel there were then . And you are right Im sure. But people ship around a lot.more now so the quality gets spread out....AND....given the option of a 5 horse Overnight Handicap and a 16 horse NY Bred on the grass they might go with the NY Bred race because the wagering #\'s tell them they take more handle. Thats what it boils down to....HANDLE!!

But I agree with a lot of what you say. BTW there was a day when on Derby Day it was the Derby and a bunch of $5,000 Claiming races. And the only people who got to bet were the ones who wete there. So some things have gotten better!!!