Suggestions for the Kentucky Derby

[Slew83]

If you train more then three or more horses in the Kentucky Derby, and none of the horses hits the board , you should be limited to two horses the next year or none at all.

The only way a horse can start in the Kentucky Derby is if they have Won a Graded or Group I or II race of there 3 year old year. Or was champion 2 year old the previous year of racing.

[yukidragon]

this year they started the race with two people on the track sitting on horse back,whats in store next year lawn chairs on the track?

[Mahubah]

The only way a horse can start in the Kentucky Derby is if they have Won a Graded or Group I or II race of there 3 year old year. Or was champion 2 year old the previous year of racing.

Well, let's see. By that rule, you would have eliminated Derby winners Alysheba, Sir Barton, Exterminator, and Brokers Tip, right off the top of my head. Granted, the last-named was no great shakes, but the other three are all in the Racing Hall of Fame.

[Green Hills]

:idea: If you train more then three or more horses in the Kentucky Derby, and none of the horses hits the board , you should be limited to two horses the next year or none at all.

The only way a horse can start in the Kentucky Derby is if they have Won a Graded or Group I or II race of there 3 year old year. Or was champion 2 year old the previous year of racing.

What's wrong with horses that don't get hyped winning? Hype should not be the qualifier. Good Grief...why don't we just tell the officials up front who should win?

[madelyn]

this year they started the race with two people on the track sitting on horse back,whats in store next year lawn chairs on the track?

yuki, they are called "safety riders", those are experienced track ponies. The job involves waiting to see if something bad happens and then rounding up a loose horse if a jockey happens to get dislodged. If you watch it again Next Year, you will see .... in fact for all races and during workouts, the safety riders are on the track!

[ahorseofcourse]

Wasn't Sir Barton a maidon when he ran the Derby?

[charlie]

The Derby handled, what, a hundred million plus? They shouldn't change much! ( The new look of the grandstand takes some getting used to though.)

[KAL]

Leave it the heck alone.

Find a way to get people to stop trying to fix something that ain't broke.

Sponsor a meeting featuring all the people who wish to "make changes". Host it on one of the riverboats during Derby Fest, then sink the boat.

I love the Derby the way it is. It is as fair as it probably can be...

I also have no idea what the problem is with the field size. The track and the distance can accommodate the large fields, and there actually isn't as much true traffic problems as some may like to believe. I have seen more traffic problems in 4 horse fields. It takes a horse with another dimension, a talent which will probably be used just this once, to win.

Hey, I've got an idea... why don't we only allow male land-owners with over 100 acres to enter horses? (sarcasm)

[Sam]

Here, here KAL.

I'm of the "If you don't like it, DON'T F'ING RUN IN IT" mentality.

(collective 'you's abound folks, this rant is not directed at anyone specifically)

If you don't like the length of the Derby, DON'T RUN IN IT.

If you don't like that the Preakness is only 2 weeks after the Derby, DON'T RUN IN IT.

If you don't like that Belmont is only 3 weeks after the Preakness and is a mile and a half ... DON'T F'ING RUN IN IT!

Stop trying to screw with the system just because YOU aren't good enough to win it. We've only been doing it this way for about 90 years folks. If you don't think your TBs are strong/sound enough to run/win all three ... BREED A BETTER RACEHORSE instead of trying to dumb it down to inferior stock.

[Ruffian]

Just Laughing

[madelyn]

I live here in Louisville (my farm is actually within the city limits) and I love Derby just as it is ... and this year the city had it totally together and traffic moved. We went to a backside party. We have a friend with a house two and a half blocks from the stable gate so we had him reserve us a spot. We got in and out quite easily, sparking my doom-and-gloom husband (after shrieking about how late we were leaving and it would be grid-locked) to remark he had told me how easy it would be....

[skeenan]

Hey, I've got an idea... why don't we only allow male land-owners with over 100 acres to enter horses?

Dang, I'm out... ha ha!!

I agree, I think it's as fair as it can be... if a trainer thinks his horse can do it, I say go for it! I applaud Giacomo's effort on Saturday... I'd love to be the underdog that comes out of nowhere to win it. Makes the victory that much sweeter, IMO. Sure, he may not go down in history as the next Seattle Slew or Secretariat, but who cares... he won one of the most prestigious (i.e., most public) races and had his day in the sun. I wouldn't kick him out of my barn! That's the kind of mediocre horse I could live with for a long time...

And I agree with whoever mentioned the new grandstands... they overshadow the famous spires. I understand the need for progress, but it's kinda too bad that they went so "big"...

[FOS]

hi KAL ... hello Sam

BULL'S-EYE...and BULL'S-EYE again

Respectfully

[Green Hills]

Here, here KAL.

I'm of the "If you don't like it, DON'T F'ING RUN IN IT" mentality.

(collective 'you's abound folks, this rant is not directed at anyone specifically)

If you don't like the length of the Derby, DON'T RUN IN IT.

If you don't like that the Preakness is only 2 weeks after the Derby, DON'T RUN IN IT.

If you don't like that Belmont is only 3 weeks after the Preakness and is a mile and a half ... DON'T F'ING RUN IN IT!


Stop trying to screw with the system just because YOU aren't good enough to win it. We've only been doing it this way for about 90 years folks. If you don't think your TBs are strong/sound enough to run/win all three ... BREED A BETTER RACEHORSE instead of trying to dumb it down to inferior stock.

AMEN!!! AMEN!!!! AMEN!!!