Should the Triple Crown Schedule be Extended?

Rich Strike , last year’s longshot Kentucky Derby (G1) winner, did not advance to the Preakness Stakes (G1). His connections’ desire to do everything possible to keep him in peak form outweighed their eagerness to pursue a Triple Crown.

Victorious Mage was the only Derby starter to advance to this year’s Preakness. It was the first time that happened since eventual Triple Crown legend Citation scared off all but three overmatched opponents in 1948. With First Mission ‘s scratch, this year’s Preakness was left with seven starters, the shortest field since 1986.

Facts are facts. There are differing opinions, of course, but some of the industry’s most prominent figures are wondering whether the massive three-races-in-five-weeks challenge should become a thing of the past.

Todd Pletcher is foremost among them. He is notorious for skipping the Preakness and questions the wisdom of allowing only two weeks between the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby and the 1 3/16-mile Preakness and then the three weeks to the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes (G1) Presented by NYRA Bets.

“I think we’re kind of at the point where we have to make a lot of tough decisions in the industry,” he said. “People hate to change tradition, and I totally understand that. At the same time, a lot of things have changed in the industry. We probably have to take a hard look at it and stretch it out a little bit.”

Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey echoed Pletcher’s comments. “I think it may be worth looking at because today’s game is different than the game was in 1940 or something,” he said. “I think horses were probably a little heartier then and could take it.”

Asked if today’s runners lack the durability and soundness of yesteryear, Pletcher replied, “It certainly appears that way. If you had asked me that a few years ago, I would have tried to argue ‘no.’ But it’s getting harder to say that.”

Although not all of the moves were due to infirmity, the five Derby scratches that occurred the week of the race were the most since 1936. 

Brad Cox, a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award as the leading trainer in North America, noted that horses are rarely, if ever, asked to compete in the season-culminating Breeders’ Cup World Championships after two or three weeks of rest.

“It’s almost unheard of at four weeks. Now you’re seeing people back up to five and six weeks,” Cox said. “We talk about what’s best for the horse. I think that’s probably what’s best for the horse.”

Like any good trainer, Cox does his best to listen to his horses by paying attention to their body language and their appetites. Angel of Empire  and Hit Show  were signaling for a timeout after they ran third and fifth, respectively, in the Derby.

“It took a little something out of them and it’s supposed to,” Cox said. “They ran very hard, physical races. To try to rev them up and have them ready to run again in two weeks, it just seems a tremendous amount.” Neither was entered in the Preakness.

Outspoken owner Mike Repole is calling for change beyond the arduous format that produced only 13 Triple Crown champions since Sir Barton became the first in 1919. In the interest of safety, he argued that the Derby should be kept to 14 horses, six below the current limit.

“Twenty horses, two weeks back, it’s foolish. It should have been changed 25 years ago,” Repole said. “I’ve never been in favor of 20 horses in a race and I’ve never been in favor of three races in five weeks.”

One thought, advanced by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated and others, would keep the 1 1/4-mile Derby on the first Saturday in May, push the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course back a week and then turn the  Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park into a July 4 extravaganza.

Pletcher would support that. “I think you could argue a number of things. The May, June, July argument I think has merit,” he said. “If that final leg was on the Fourth of July weekend, it might generate some excitement.”

Pletcher added: “When people argue against tradition, the tradition used to be all the best horses ran in all three races, where now that hasn’t been the same. You might regain that part, where the best horses are running in all three races.”

John Velazquez, one of the most well-respected riders in the nation, also is an advocate for change. “I love the idea of tweaking things,” he said. “Every sport out there has changed for the better. I think we are a little bit stuck in tradition.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert understands better than anyone how special it is when a still-maturing 3-year-old stands up to the rigors of the Triple Crown to achieve arguably one of the greatest feats in sports. Baffert’s American Pharoah   thrilled racing and non-racing fans alike in 2015 when he emerged as the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

American Pharoah’s tour de force, before a frenzied Belmont Park crowd capped at 90,000, is widely regarded as one of the most memorable moments in New York sports history. Baffert’s Justify provided an encore in 2018 as a further repudiation of those who believed the task is too tough.

“Secretariat did it. Pharoah and Justify did it. All the great horses did it,” Baffert said. “Everybody wants to see a superior athlete, and that’s why there are not that many Triple Crown winners.”

Baffert believes the tight timeframe goes a long way toward keeping the public engaged. “Look at American Pharoah when he won the Belmont,” he said. “If it had been spread out, I don’t think the excitement would have been there.”

Baffert said the Triple Crown “would lose its meaning” if it is altered.

Mike Smith, who won the latest Triple Crown aboard undefeated Justify  , is another who opposes doing anything that might wreak havoc with the record books.  

“I love the history of the Triple Crown and what it means,” he said. “It takes an iron horse to do it. If you’re going to change it, then put an asterisk by it because it won’t be the same.”

The certainty is that the handling of horses has changed dramatically. With an emphasis on significant spacing between races, elite horses are often kept to only a handful of starts.

McGaughey fondly reflected on legendary trainer Woody Stephens and his handling of Conquistador Cielo. The sturdy youngster was sent into the Met Mile on May 31, 1982, then asked to compete in the Belmont Stakes marathon five days later.

When owner Henryk de Kwiatkowski asked about the wisdom of the plan, Stephens replied, “Put your tie on and I’ll see you on Saturday.”

Conquistador Cielo tore through the Met Mile in a track-record 1:33 before splashing through the slop to dominate the Belmont Stakes by 14 lengths.