2025 galloping Triple Crown thread

[Huggy]

It was a good read, and even glaciers are now moving faster that forward thinking in the sport.

Yeah, good read, that is a sport that is definitely stuck in the past. Match races would be great if you could find two horses that moved the needle but I doubt there is much appetite for one after Ruffian broke down all those years ago against Foolish Pleasure.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I think the biggest thing with the BC is the timing. Saturday, Nov. 1, is no time for a showcase day of racing. Run it on Thursday evening or something.

 

[MileHigh]

Especially if you are on the West Coast.

 

[Starman]

What that means is getting a fist up your butt every day. But you do you.

Dating ain't what it used to be.

 

[Bubbler]

Unfortunately, one of the inherent problems with horse racing and building a brand are the horses.

Hard to build a sport when the participants are gone shortly after you fall in love with them.

If they could get a commitment to run horses on a three-year cycle, they might have something, but good luck selling that to horse owners who crave that stud fee at the end of the rainbow.

You’d almost have to start a totally new thing. What if you took some lesser horses, but ones with more longevity and raced them once a month on a circuit? These horses would run for a few years before they cycle out. Familiarity could build some loyalty, but I imagine there’s myriad issues to make something like that happen.

 

[Typist Clerk]

Unfortunately, one of the inherent problems with horse racing and building a brand are the horses.

Hard to build a sport when the participants are gone shortly after you fall in love with them.

If they could get a commitment to run horses on a three-year cycle, they might have something, but good luck selling that to horse owners who crave that stud fee at the end of the rainbow.

You’d almost have to start a totally new thing. What if you took some lesser horses, but ones with more longevity and raced them once a month on a circuit? These horses would run for a few years before they cycle out. Familiarity could build some loyalty, but I imagine there’s myriad issues to make something like that happen.

The LIV Horse Racing Circuit?

 

[Bubbler]

The LIV Horse Racing Circuit?

You jest, but I could totally see the Saudi sovereign wealth fund getting behind something like that ... though it would mean several races in the Saudi.

 

[Pickleballgolds]

You jest, but I could totally see the Saudi sovereign wealth fund getting behind something like that ... though it would mean several races in the Saudi.

There are a few very rice races in that part of the world. How much of that handle comes from the U.S., I do not know.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Unfortunately, one of the inherent problems with horse racing and building a brand are the horses.

Hard to build a sport when the participants are gone shortly after you fall in love with them.

If they could get a commitment to run horses on a three-year cycle, they might have something, but good luck selling that to horse owners who crave that stud fee at the end of the rainbow.

You’d almost have to start a totally new thing. What if you took some lesser horses, but ones with more longevity and raced them once a month on a circuit? These horses would run for a few years before they cycle out. Familiarity could build some loyalty, but I imagine there’s myriad issues to make something like that happen.

You can kind of already do something like that by following certain trainers. You become a Baffert guy or a D Wayne Lukas (RIP) guy.

And you can follow horses for several years now. I watched Thorpedo Anna as a 2-, 3- and 4-year-old. Cigar ran for four seasons. Several entrants in this year's BC Classic were on their third season of racing.

 

[Bubbler]

You can kind of already do something like that by following certain trainers. You become a Baffert guy or a D Wayne Lukas (RIP) guy.

And you can follow horses for several years now. I watched Thorpedo Anna as a 2-, 3- and 4-year-old. Cigar ran for four seasons. Several entrants in this year's BC Classic were on their third season of racing.

You can do all of that if you’re inclined to do it. Casual fans, which is at least 99% of the population as horse racing goes, don’t bother, which is the crux of the issue.

Trainers get pumped up during Triple Crown season, but outside of Kentucky, I don’t think any are household names.

A way you could do my fictional race circuit is brand the teams after their trainers. Each team has four horses - ideally featuring a male horse, a filly, a gelding and a turf specialist.

Team Baffert featuring Pokey, Hokey, Dokey and, er, Druggie? Team Pletcher featuring Mr. Ed, Ms. Mildred, Mr. Neither and Random Turf Horse.

Sell it so fans fall in love with the horses … and they can also follow the narratives of the trainers.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Sell it so fans fall in love with the horses … and they can also follow the narratives of the trainers.

That's what happens now. The problem is casual fans don't follow any races outside of the Triple Crown. So while I'm watching the BC Juvenile featuring horses that will likely be favored in the 2026 Kentucky Derby, casual fans aren't. They won't hear of Ted Noffey, Mr. A.P. or Brant until the first Saturday in May.

I think horse racing runs into the same problem as spring football - the seasons are set for casual sports fans. They watch this sport during this month and that sport during that month. They'll spare a few minutes during Triple Crown season, but otherwise they have other sports on their TVs.

Could some new wagering options help? Maybe, given how addicted folks are to their betting apps. I'm old enough to remember when Oaklawn Park didn't offer exotics. It was straight win, place, show and daily doubles. No exactas, no trifectas, no pick 6s. But that changed in the mid-1980s. Maybe it would be as simple as renaming the daily double to a two-horse parlay. Maybe they need to offer paired wagering like I see on F1 and NASCAR on the betting apps.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

How many Americans have ever ridden a horse? How many have even seen one except on TV? There's the problem right there. Also. handicapping is the hardest form of gambling there is. It's more like a super puzzle than a bet. People don't use gambling apps to do hard work, even recreational hard work.

 

[Pickleballgolds]

For 360 days a year, even the people betting on their phone or going to their local OTB parlor don’t give a *** which horses are running. They care about having more money at the end of the day.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Since this is the de facto horse racing thread, amazing work uncovering the corruption in the world of harness racing.

FBI Wiretaps, Illegal Drugs, and Dead Horses

 

[Huggy]

Since this is the de facto horse racing thread, amazing work uncovering the corruption in the world of harness racing.

FBI Wiretaps, Illegal Drugs, and Dead Horses

Thanks for sharing this, my old man was always convinced harness racing - even on the big money circuit here in Ontario, was rigged ("They don't even make it ****ing look good!") - but he kept betting it because in his mind, "Who cares if it's fixed??? There HAS to be a winner!". At this point I'd be surprised if the trotters at Yonkers or at Mohawk AREN'T corrupt.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Big race on Saturday featuring the Triple Crown winners from 2025.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Thanks for sharing this, my old man was always convinced harness racing - even on the big money circuit here in Ontario, was rigged ("They don't even make it ****ing look good!") - but he kept betting it because in his mind, "Who cares if it's fixed??? There HAS to be a winner!". At this point I'd be surprised if the trotters at Yonkers or at Mohawk AREN'T corrupt.

I grew up about a mile from a harness track and even as a child of 10 I knew the trotters were rigged.