1. Handle for Preakness Day was $108 million, down 2.8% from the prior year. (Breeders Cup Friday handled $62 million and BC Saturday handled $118 million as an interesting comparison).

2. TV ratings were up (in a non-TC attempt) 22% from the prior year. Did Oaks Prime time increase Derby and Preakness interest despite the middle finger to Louisville and on track Oaks/Derby folks?

3. The trainers and the horses from the Derby (except a very few) aren't showing up. But 14 horses did show up and the gamblers and TV audience still showed up. Is it sheet reading by trainers? Is it medication rules? Is it the vet recommendation? Is it increased surveillance? Is it the fragility of the breed? I don't know but these folks don't want to race their horses on 2 weeks rest. (On a side note, I thought all agreed that non-Lasix raced horses would lead to more starts? Looking at the trainers still not racing their horses as often and saying "Hmmm...")

The gamblers are still showing up. The national interest is still there for the Triple Crown series. The Derby horses need to be incentivized to run in all three. Others can decide how best to do that but the VISA Triple Crown sure seemed to bring a belief of a cohesive, coordinated series without the horses skipping in the way they do now year after year.

Horse racing is about the only place that fans might universally agree that participation trophies might be needed to improve the game. Participation trophies And Money for participating, of course. And this could be done by making a Monster Bonus for a Triple Crown winner via sponsorship and a bonus program (see how the Preakness bonus for trainers works out) for horses that compete in all three races and financial awards to the top 5 finishers in a point system created for the three races. Oops, this requires ACTUAL coordination and agreement among three tracks and a sponsor. Seems unlikely but it is a potential solution.

Otherwise, I see no way to make the Triple Crown a place for fans (potential customers, new gamblers, new fans, etc) to gravitate to their favorite horses over 3 race series with the current timing.

Ultimately, the TC Series is broken but not beyond repair. If horses would run in all three, it would work best in its current state. But there aren't many years left to figure out how to make these horses run in all three races without blowing it up if that's the goal. (Which is why Churchill bid 85 million I would say to *sort of* own 2/3 of the TC).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2026 10:12AM by Fairmount1.