unfortunately for it, will struggle for buzz
The Preakness’ only goal, by and large, is to serve as a testing ground for the Kentucky Derby winner, to see if he has a shot at winning the coveted Triple Crown. Since Country House, the controversial winner of the Kentucky Derby, will skip the Preakness, we won’t have the benefit of seeing a horse at least try for the Triple Crown.
The gate-to-wire “winner” of the Derby, Maximum Security, was disqualified and placed to 17th after he lost his path and obstructed War of Will and Long Range Toddy. The call made sense and was fair. Too bad we won’t see Maximum Security run in the Preakness.
“No, we’re not going to run in the Preakness,” West said Monday on NBC’s Today morning show. “There’s no Triple Crown on the line for us, and there’s no reason to run a horse back in two weeks when you don’t have to.”
Um, except when it’s the Preakness because Maximum Security is a) the best horse as he proved in Kentucky and b) this is the only time these horses get to run in this race. There’s no Preakness next year.
This would have been a great chance to further prove that his horse could win cleanly and redeem the DQ from Louisville. It sounds more like sour grapes than anything.
Thankfully there will be no more than 14 horses for the Preakness Stakes, because the real rub of the entire matter is the issue of 20 horses in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby. We all know why Churchill Downs Inc. does it, but it makes no racing sense from several perspectives. Having six extra betting interests creates countless dollars that rake through the till.
One, these horses are babies. A 14-horse field is big for them, let alone 20, with at least five to six of those horses categorically junior varsity in talent and ability.
Two, how many jockeys have ridden in a 20-horse field? Only the ones that run in the Derby have the experience and even then it’s one time a year. Take jockey Kent Desormeux. While on TVG following the Derby, he made several great points.
“I appreciate my tenure in Japan,” he told TVG. “There’s 14 races a day and there’s 20 horses in every race. Our local riders have no idea what it’s like till they ride in the Kentucky Derby and they ride against 19 other horses. It’s reckless.”
Often we talk about the horses, but jocks dealing with 19 other horses, and on top of that an often muddy track, makes this race reckless and unsafe.
Three, the crowd is a factor and with such a big field, many get strung out wide and they’re that much closer to the screaming throngs of fans, sober or not. It’s yet another wild card that makes an already young, skittish, nervous, maybe even scared horse that much more unpredictable.
Luis Saez, Maximum Security’s jockey, is a seasoned rider with over 2,100 wins and $100 million in earnings. Even he couldn’t keep his horse from bolting. And, in an abominable decision made by Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, it suspended Saez for 15 days for losing control of his mount.
And for anybody who doesn’t think 14 horses breaking from the gate isn’t impressive, look at any Breeders’ Cup race and ask yourself if that looks boring. Ask yourself if there aren’t enough betting interests. Ask yourself if the most deserving horses aren’t in that race instead of the deserving and a few stragglers soaking up betting dollars that won’t pay out and creating traffic and danger in an already crowded field.
Twenty horses is the classic toothpaste-is-out-of-the-tube argument. There’s too much money at stake and there’s no way to isolate any mishaps to field size.
Of course, the people with the power would be the jockeys. If they felt it was unsafe and made a strong, concerted case to reduce field size because they felt threatened by the entire ordeal, then that’s the only chance field reduction has. That’s also six fewer mounts for jockeys. It’s not black and white.
I remember back in 2008 when a rainstorm blew through Saratoga and flooded out the far turn. Many of the jockeys warmed up their horses and said they were done racing for the day. Too unsafe and racing was cancelled.
Granted that wasn’t Derby-level racing, but the jocks had the power and they said they weren’t about to risk the lives of themselves and the horses.
Twenty horses is a spectacle. It’s impressive to behold and it’s uniquely the Derby. But those bottom horses only create unnecessary traffic and it’s only a matter of time before a catastrophic event happens mid-race. Good thing the Preakness has a max of 14.
By this point, horse racing has run out of eyes to bruise.
