The Belmont got the shaft? I think the KY Derby, the Preakness, dozens of other rescheduled races, and the several hundred that were simply cancelled altogether–many with little or no warning–would disagree with that assessment.
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Just announced: the Belmont will run on June 20th at 1 1/8 mile with a 1M purse.
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In a related vein, I seriously wonder how viable it is to be a young trainer now. It’s never been the path to riches except for a very select few but talented people could eke out a middle class lifestyle. Now with all of these cancellations–and I am not just talking about stakes–while the whole industry is in the middle of overall contraction, this might be the blow that tips the balance and persuades people to not try to make a living at this.
Of course I also wonder about training in general in different disciplines. It is an awfully expensive hobby we have chosen trying to survive in the middle of a pandemic/ depression/ recession.
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Well that is anticlimatic. I always knew this would be the asterisk Triple Crown but that is ridiculous.
Understandable but ridiculous.
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Now Bob Baffert will send his horse(s) which is probably what the NYRA cared about. But this race will bear no resemblance to the “real” Belmont.
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I wonder if this is going to open the door to a modernization of the TC. We all know trainers hate the current format but tradition insisted it remain the same as it always was. I could see the races spread out more and the distances shuffled, especially once they change the configuration of Pimlico.
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I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
Wish it was still a mile and a half 😕
Oh, that would be disappointing. Surely they’ll only have this mess for 2020.
It won’t be a proper Triple Crown if they change the dates and the distances (again). It will have to be the “New Triple Crown”, and wouldn’t that be a shame.
Me, too.
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They should call it the Belmont Derby, not Stakes for this year.
They could also call it the COVID Crown… if the same horse happens to win all 3 races. 🤦🻔♀ï¸ðŸ¤·ðŸ»”♀ï¸
Hope like hell this doesn’t snowball into permanent changes for future TC races.
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have no problem with the date. However, keep it at 1.5 miles and 2 turns for pete’s sake. What a let down
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Exactly how I feel. The date change makes perfect sense, changing the distance makes me not want to call it the Belmont.
I don’t think many 3 yr old s could run back in the Derby and Preakness after a mile and a half Belmont.
After two and a half months rest?!? If they can’t, they ought to be able to.
If the Triple Crown distances are too much for our current crop of 3yos, maybe we should just give up and make all three races into sprints so it wouldn’t be too taxing for them.
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:lol:
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