ekindy

A win for Keeneland. The Spinster is now the go to race for older fillies and mares preparing for the BC Distaff. And a win for Parx, there's now more incentive to enter 3YO fillies in the Cotillion. And a win for Belmont Stakes Day. I can see how some people would call this an overall loss for the sport, but I would say it's merely a sign that the sport is fighting a losing battle. Fewer graded races should mean better competition in the remaining races, which is good for the sport. Top competition should face each other all year, not just in the Breeders Cup. But fewer of them also means fewer opportunities to make new fans. I can see the reasoning, make the opportunities to gain fans better if there are going to be fewer of them. But this is a sport that really benefits from being there in person versus watching on TV, and fewer opportunities means more travelling required if you want to see the great races.

Aqueduct has a casino and the inner track for winter racing and a convenient subway stop, not to mention free parking. Even if the outer track season is shortened or cut altogether, they'll be fine. They don't need tourism like Saratoga, the locals give them enough business.

The problem with Saratoga isn't what they are doing to drive people away. It's what they aren't doing to bring people in. Saratoga is an old rich person's resort. Too many old people, not enough young people. Old people are dying and young people are not replacing them. What young people you see at Saratoga now are either locals or rich (i.e. have a stake in the game) or REALLY into the sport, and there aren't too many of the latter anymore. In other words, Saratoga is stuck in the past. Most people who like Saratoga like it that way. I know I do. But it's not going to grow or even maintain relevance if it stays that way. I'm not saying I have an answer to the problem, but something needs to be done to attract newer audiences.

Quality racing is being diluted everywhere, there's just not as much interest in the sport. Casinos are what keep tracks alive anymore, especially in small towns, and Saratoga's casino is over at the harness track.

I don't think I would say Jaywalk wins on resume. The Miss Grillo has been attracting G1 talent this entire decade and has been moving up in grade, but the way the grading system works in this country is that it takes many, many years to get that G1 rating (unless it's a Stronach track). If I were voting I would consider the Miss Grillo to be a G1 because it is in all but name. Unfortunately too many people with votes put too much stock in the grade of the race rather than the talent that's in the race that year.

If the trend were isolated to one barn, maybe they would. The fact is that it's really only Baffert's detractors who point out that it only happens to his barn, just like it's really only Pletcher's detractors that point out that it only happens to his barn. In reality it happens in all barns, Baffert and Pletcher just happen to have large barns with a lot of top level athletes so they make headlines more often.

I think you have to project a bit to determine who is the better of these two. AP only ran as a 2YO and 3YO. If you got in a time machine and raced these two head to head as 2YO or 3YO, AP clearly wins because GZ didn't come into his own until 4. Could AP have matched GZ's speed figures had he continued to race? While it's hard to imagine any horse hitting those speeds, I don't think you can say positively not. And racing is not a time trial. Champions step up their game when challenged. So considering that and sheer accomplishments, I'd pick AP as the better horse. But man, GZ's times were SO amazing. And I can't help but wonder what GZ's career accomplishments would have been had he been treated as a distance runner from the beginning.

AP lost the Travers too, that didn't cost him anything. Anyway it's not like Justify needed those races, he could have skipped both the Haskell and Travers and gone straight to the BCC. Or maybe just tune up in the Penn Derby if Baffert felt it necessary. A good freshening is always a good idea after running in all three TCs, that's always brutal.

I'll admit you have an argument regarding the Preakness. Not the Belmont though, at least not most years. And upon further thinking, perhaps I would consider adding the Travers and Haskell. I think I'd have to add those before the Met Mile. And even if the Met Mile were added, it likely would not be relevant to HOTY discussions 95% of the time. I do love the race though.

Excuse me, I was not talking down to anybody. If you can't handle another person's opinion maybe this isn't the forum for you.