I both understand and don't understand the  push to change it.  They want it for the marketing.  But if they change it, it will loose all meaning and context.  Which is greater a tiple crown that more horses can obtain and promote more, or each of the individual tracks maintaining their history.  The TC was never initially a "thing". It became so after the fact.  If they want to make a series of 3 races to call some kind of crown, why not KD BEL Travers already on the schedule and spaced more favorable for todays horses.  It will make the Preakness more irrelevant, but so what, that place seems to have been teetering on the edge for quite some time.  They can keep the old concept of the TC which few will run just as they currently do and have two series they can promote.  Do what they did in the 80s where they offered a bonus for most point in the TC

NBC will decide for both Churchill and Pimlico, and no way they give up tv rights to Fox because that’s what you’re saying. Just like college sports the networks will decide what happens. New York already tried what your proposing with the squeezing out the Black Eyed Susan. Anyone ever talk about the filly races in New York anymore? Moving the Preakness also means the Susan can become a Grade 1 and NBC can market that on Friday. What makes the Triple Crown popular is the hundred years of tradition of all 3 races, and it’s in three different places. 

PISTOL9 said...

The TC was never initially a "thing". It became so after the fact.

You mean after Secretariat maybe?  

Problem for me is 1) there are few horses on the planet, or who will ever BE on the planet, who are Secretariat; 2) Baffert won it in modern times and that is because he is willing to put horses thru The Baffert Program, which to my mind, is not in the best interest of the horse, it's too "gladiator-like" and too much too soon for 2 year olds to start out that way.  (IMHO). 

We are in modern times now.  Jack van Berg "got" that part when he woke up and testified in Congress and so have some other old school trainers.   Today we have *hot house* horses who spend a lot of time standing around in barns.   Even in other countries, they have huge yards, swimming, even trail walks and round pens for their "mental and emotional health" as well as relief from hay dust and more fresh air.

I really don't care what they do with the TC race scheduling, however, I wlll say that those who cling to history like some kind of life raft are usually left behind, because times change, and we are all *in* the history of our time, which is not the same as even 30 years ago.   In that respect, it's about keeping up and having a pulse on the history you are swimming IN.   

History is merely a tutor, but should never be a life raft. 

It's like people who won't or have never used digital payments on their phones.....much more secure than losing your wallet with all your credit cards inside, etc.  but they don't understand some of the subtleties.  Somebody steals my wallet, they are at the store w/in 5 minutes charging up a storm.  If I lose my phone, my lockscreen is one thing they have to get by (my fingerprints or PIN number) and then to use digital wallet, they have to also have another PIN......and then the numbers of your credit card to which it's attached is "tokenized", i.e. your credit card number never ever shows on the receipt or to the merchant.  It's tokenized into some other bunch of numbers. 

So I'm all for moving forward sometimes.    

This might make moving the Belmont a few weeks later an easier pill to swallow for New York….

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/nyra-might-hold-belmont-s-twice-in-saratoga/

and at Saratoga they'll have to shorten the Belmont to 1 1/4 miles because 1 1/2 would start in the middle of the far turn...

https://www.drf.com/news/nyra-wants-run-next-two-belmont-stakes-saratoga-distance-change-expected

Bloodhorse covered the recent meeting. The handle at Timonium a few miles from Pimlico improved. The rest of the handle from Laurel had the same loss as other tracks in the USA. One thing I’d like to point out about Baltimore. For the last 150 years every sports league has been trying to shove Washington DC down Baltimore’s throat. The breeding farms and the heart of horse racing in MD is north of Baltimore. DC is south. Horse Racing in MD will succeed when Baltimore becomes the focus instead of a track like Laurel between both cities. Importantly Laurel is much further south from the breeding farms. The development of Pimlico is the winning decision to rebuild the tracks. 
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/271624/preakness-date-change-discussions-still-ongoing

My eyes rolled as I read all that. 

My opinion remains the same:  Wake me up when the wrecking ball starts knocking down Pimlico for the rebuild. Until that happens I'll continue to call BS to anything they say especially everybody quoted in the BH article.  I'll believe it when I see it.

Years and years of all talk and no action. And it's still going.

Pissing match is ,I believe ,the dictionary definition of American racing.

Lol true story. 

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/belmont-stakes-coming-saratoga-2024-18348161.php