At some point, tradition must cede to sensibility. A long and storied history cannot take precedence over an endangered and uncertain future, not when so much is on the line.
While The Jockey Club has admirably convened a committee to study the health and safety of its racehorses, there's something the Maryland Jockey Club could push for immediately: It's past time the Triple Crown calendar was tweaked to move the Preakness Stakes, slated for Saturday at Pimlico, back at least one week.
Triple Crown Productions, which oversees one of the most exciting pursuits in sports, could improve its series considerably while making an important concession to the safety of its participants by simply adding a week of intrigue and pushing back the second and third races.
This proposal isn't new, of course, nor are the supporting arguments and evidence. But the circumstances have changed and the move makes more sense now than ever.
The second jewel of the Triple Crown takes place just two weeks after the Kentucky Derby. There's no good explanation for this, just that it has been done like this for a long time. That reasoning is no longer good enough - not while horses are breaking down in major races, and not while we watch the Preakness field become weaker each spring.
Not many are going to argue that it's safer to run horses on two weeks' rest than three. It's a big reason a lot of the top 3-year-olds at Churchill Downs skip the Preakness. Two weeks simply isn't enough recovery time for most.
Now, adding an extra week probably won't significantly impact racing's death rate. Most major problems - whether it be Barbaro or Eight Belles - are freak occurrences. Maybe a bad step, maybe bad genes. As long as there is racing, there are going to be horses that break down. The goal is to decrease the likelihood.
As it stands, we make a beeline from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness, barely catching our breath in between. In horse racing, two weeks is just enough time for owners to conclude: No way I'm running my horse in Baltimore. The short break between the first two jewels isn't only too taxing for horses, it also usually makes for a less interesting Preakness for fans.
As Derby horses pass on the Preakness, the doors swing open for fresh horses, many that simply weren't good enough to run two weeks earlier. In the past five years, half of the horses in the Preakness field - 26 of 52 - were fresh runners. These new horses are rarely the caliber of those from the Derby's starting gates.
