Crist's latest column

[justindew]

Long story short, Crist is cirticial of the Preakness 5.5 bonus in this column. I'd like to hear what people think about his argument.

My initial reaction is that he makes some rare poor arguments. He ignores the possibility that some horses might be running in the specific races in order to qualify for the bonus, instead of heading to different spots that might have made more sense. Obviously, Gulfstream and the other Magna tracks have an interest in attracting the best fields they can. So with one of the goals being to attract top horses to these preps, maybe the bonus is working in that regard.

Also, he said himself in the column that horses that lose the KY Derby often just skip the Preakness to point for the Belmont. Well, maybe if there was $5.5 Million on the line, they would actually run in the Preakness after the Derby even if they lost the Derby badly. (Yes, I know he address this. But he definitely minimizes it) Just a thought.

I dunno. I always agree with Crist, and I am sure many of you will disagree with me. But I think he's being too hard here.

http://www.drf.com/news/preakness-55...-fix-big-issue