Coordinate!
There were nine Grade I races and 15 graded stakes in all offered across North America Saturday, making it the type of afternoon when this sport is everything it was meant to be -- important, exciting and fun to bet on. With the exception of the Breeders' Cup, no other day on the racing calendar offers as much when it comes to the combination of quantity, quality and significance.
The problem is that the day's races were presented in a typically discordant fashion, with no focus on what's best for the sport or the racing fan. Had the three tracks where all nine Grade I's were run gotten together, worked together and presented the afternoon's events as a unified front, a good day of racing would have been a spectacular day of racing. There are far better ways to do this.
The biggest problem is that each track seems to schedule its races without giving even the slightest consideration to what is going on elsewhere in the country. The situation was at its most ridiculous when the field broke from the gate for the Grade I Yellow Ribbon at Santa Anita. Seconds later, the field broke from the gate in the Grade I Champagne at Belmont. Two Grade I races were being run simultaneously, creating a chaotic situation where the fan and the bettor was forced to chose one race over the other.
Just four minutes earlier, the Grade I Breeders' Futurity finished at Keeneland. That's three Grade I races run within four minutes of one another. How is this possibly a good idea?
Twenty-five years ago, it didn't really matter if a handful of big races were being run at the same time. With only on-track wagering available, what was happening at Belmont had no bearing on what was going on at Santa Anita. Simulcasting changed that. Belmont and Santa Anita are competing for the same players and the same betting dollars and to have two Grade I races going on at exactly the same time is beyond dumb. Had the races instead been even 10 minutes apart, both would have attracted larger betting handles.
Here's another problem: why weren't the races linked together in some sort of national multiple race wager? A Pick 6, 7 or 8 that included a combination of the Keeneland, Belmont and Santa Anita stakes would have been wildly popular. Instead, each track offered its own Pick Six, all of them watered down by insignificant races. Keeneland's Pick Six handled all of $34,221.
All it would have taken to fix this would have been for the three tracks to get together and work out a coordinated schedule that would have benefited everyone. There's no reason why the races could not have been run in an orderly cohesive fashion that would have worked for the individual tracks, the bettors and television.
Next year, here's how this super Saturday should be lined up. The times listed are Eastern Daylight Time:
Group I -- National Pick Seven
Group II -- National Pick Five
Racing's biggest problem is that it lacks leadership. Rather, 1,000 different fiefdoms go in 1,000 different directions, which is why we get messes like the one we had Saturday. Still, it's really not that difficult to figure this out and plan the day a whole lot better.
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The connections of Zenyatta have nothing to lose and everything to gain by running her next in the Breeders' Cup Classic instead of the Distaff.
While another win against fillies would be nice, it would do little to enhance her career or her reputation. She's been there and done that, over and over again. She may have no chance to unseat Rachel Alexandra for Horse of the Year no matter what she does, but a Classic win would go a long way toward ensuring that she goes down as one of the greatest fillies or mares ever. Should she lose, no one will hold it against her.
Owner Jerry Moss has been maddeningly conservative with this horse and has never once chosen the more challenging route. That has cost his Zenyatta, especially in light of the bold, daring and successful campaign launched by Jess Jackson on behalf of Rachel Alexandra.
Zenyatta deserves the chance to prove her greatness. Run her in the Classic.
Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Contact Bill at wnfinley@aol.com.
