LA Derby will lengthen, richen, compete with FL Derby

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Yup, and we'll see who shows up next year with horses split between the Lane's End, Louisiana Derby, Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Santa Anita Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, and Arkansas Derby. And god forbid the Sunland Derby gets G3 status next year and draws some horses looking for graded earnings. This is a bad move.

I doubt many serious Derby prospects will continue to run in the Lane's End or Blue Grass because of Polytrack. Trainers out west may remain stubborn, but look for more of them to head east for a traditional dirt prep instead of the Santa Anita Derby.

The Wood Memorial is the race most likely to be affected because it will be a week after the Louisiana Derby. The Arkansas Derby will be two weeks after the La Derby, so a horse could conceivably make both races.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by boswd

I know it, because that is just what this sport needs, more cannabalism

As long as the NYRA tracks and SoCal tracks can't keep things straight, why should the lesser tracks like FG seek permission from the racing world before making improvements to their stakes schedule.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

As long as the NYRA tracks and SoCal tracks can't keep things straight, why should the lesser tracks like FG seek permission from the racing world before making improvements to their stakes schedule.

Cause this isn't an improvement. This is declaring outright war on Oaklawn when those two tracks should be doing everything they can to compete with NY and California. A $750k Grade 2 eight weeks from the Kentucky Derby is a gold mine. It rules March and will attract the best horses. A $750k Grade 2 five weeks from the Kentucky Derby is just another Derby prep.

And let's not forget that the World Cup moves to synthetics next year so all the top dirt horses won't be a guarantee to go over there. That means between the Donn and the Met Mile there is a huge gap for races like the New Orleans Handicap and Oaklawn Handicap to gain G1 status. By having the two races compete with each other instead of feed into each other it assures that neither will get there anytime soon.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Cause this isn't an improvement. This is declaring outright war on Oaklawn when those two tracks should be doing everything they can to compete with NY and California. A $750k Grade 2 eight weeks from the Kentucky Derby is a gold mine. It rules March and will attract the best horses. A $750k Grade 2 five weeks from the Kentucky Derby is just another Derby prep.

And let's not forget that the World Cup moves to synthetics next year so all the top dirt horses won't be a guarantee to go over there. That means between the Donn and the Met Mile there is a huge gap for races like the New Orleans Handicap and Oaklawn Handicap to gain G1 status. By having the two races compete with each other instead of feed into each other it assures that neither will get there anytime soon.

Considering that Oaklawn has boosted the purses of the Southwest and Rebel (which have conflicted in the past with the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby), and that has drawn horses directly from Fair Grounds, it can be said that Oaklawn declared war on FG well before this. FG and Oaklawn have always had a love/hate relationship. FG has a better group of horses stabled on the grounds than Oaklawn does, and Oaklawn has been dependent on these horses vanning up to Hot Springs to enhance its stakes races. It used to be that there was a mass exodus of horses from FG when Oaklawn opened; that has not happened over the last 10 years.

I'm not holding my breath for the Graded Stakes Committee to designate any FG stakes a Grade 1. The FG Oaks and Mervin Muniz (especially when it was worth $700k) were among the top races in each stakes division for several years, but neither was ever graded past the Grade 2 level.

[Pedigree Ann]

Louisiana Derby was 9f from 1898 to 1987. Why they changed it to 8.5f I never understood. Used to be, it wasn't unusual for a horse to run in both the Mid-South Derbies before heading north for their final prep.

Since they are restoring race distances, why don't they put the New Orleans Hcp back to 10f? There isn't a major race for classic-type older horses in the eastern part of the country in the winter anymore, since Gulfstream deep-sixed the GP Hcp by reducing it to a mile.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

Louisiana Derby was 9f from 1898 to 1987. Why they changed it to 8.5f I never understood. Used to be, it wasn't unusual for a horse to run in both the Mid-South Derbies before heading north for their final prep.

Since they are restoring race distances, why don't they put the New Orleans Hcp back to 10f? There isn't a major race for classic-type older horses in the eastern part of the country in the winter anymore, since Gulfstream deep-sixed the GP Hcp by reducing it to a mile.

Considering they just knocked the Suburban down to G2 for being at 10 furlongs I think you have your answer.