And if I have my choice between a pennant and a triple crown, I’ll take the pennant every time.
Carl Yastrzemski
One thing Johnson hopes doesn’t change, though, is the Triple Crown. The old debate flared up again this year after Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike opted to skip the Preakness Stakes and wait for the Belmont, but Johnson feels changing the series would only harm racing.
‘It can’t change and it shouldn’t change’
“It can’t change, and it shouldn’t change,” he said. “Mainly it shouldn’t change because it works. Racing has some terrible problems, but this is the only thing that works and works really well. People still get involved with the Triple Crown. The national media is all over the Derby and what happens after. I would hate to see that change.
“It captures the whole country for these five weeks, especially if there is a Triple Crown on the line, but even if there isn’t. People came up to me in my building, on the street, in my diner – people I never thought had watched a race – and they wanted to tell me about the longshot who won the Derby this year. I loved it. If they change it, it is going to become diminished, and it is going to become an afterthought.”
TDN – Chris McGrath – Breeding Digest: Triple Crown Timidity Now Yesterday’s News
Phil has a question:
Was Ali great because of the number of Palookas he beat up or his bouts with Frazier, Foreman and Norton.
Ever note, Lucilius, When love begins to sicken and decay It useth an enforced ceremony. There are no tricks in plain and simple faith; But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, Make gallant show and promise of their mettle; But when they should endure the bloody spur, They fall their crests, and like deceitful jades Sink in the trial.
William Shakespeare
Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt – Preakness 150 Marks the End of an Era in Maryland
If I see a problem, I like to think if there’s a better way to do it.
Mark Rober
Bloodhorse – Jay Hovdey – The Walls May Crumble, but Memories Are Here to Stay
Phil has a question:
Will the new Pimlico get a logo that looks better than a coat hanger.
The New Yorker – Kelefa Sanneh – The Spectacle of a Boxing Match in Times Square
Thoroughbred News – Top 100 Group 1 races of 2024 announced
Dollars and Viewers
The Preakness Stakes saw a record betting handle of $67.26 million, surpassing the previous mark set in 2021. The Kentucky Derby also had a record betting handle this year of $349 million.
TV ratings for the Preakness Stakes will be released later this week. NBC was looking to build on the momentum of the first leg of the Triple Crown, as the 17.7 million viewers watched the Kentucky Derby, the race’s highest audience since 1989.
Front Office Sports – Final Preakness Stakes at ‘Pimlico As We Know It’ Delivers High Drama
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Preakness Stakes Television Ratings Decline
My First Night Alone Without You
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.
E. B. White
Phil has a question:
Why are so many set in concrete opinions about moving the dates of the Preakness and Belmont to accommodate today’s trainers emerging after a horse skips a race.
Where is Chicken Little.
A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
Albert Einstein
Phil has a question:
Is anyone asking any questions.
Are we asking enough questions.
Are we asking the right question(s).
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
Bruce Lee
Phil has a question:
What is the Preakness.
What is the Triple Crown.
Does the race order in the Triple Crown have to be Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont to be the Triple Crown.
Is MLB moving the mound back 10 feet so more hitters qualify for the Hall of Fame.
Is MLB moving the mound forward 10 feet so more pitchers qualify for the Hall of Fame.
In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back.
Charlie Brown
Phil has a question:
Why are modern trainers insisting on 4 or more weeks rest between stakes races.
Are modern trainers insisting on 4 or more weeks rest between stakes races because lasix and other drugs are too pervasive in the industry.
Are modern trainers insisting on 4 or more weeks rest between stakes races because the breeders have too much say in who goes to the breeding shed.
Are modern trainers insisting on 4 or more weeks rest between stakes races because they don’t know what they’re doing.
What if the modern trainers who insist on 4 or more weeks between stakes races are wrong.
A lot of people have this strategy where if they have a hard question they wait to ask it to the end of the interview because they think the person is going to walk out. But what they have to realize is, is that if the person walks out, they have a pretty successful story.
Chuck Klosterman
Phil has a question:
Would spreading the Triple crown races over 8 or 9 weeks really help thoroughbred racing promotion when the only race that gets any mainstream media coverage is the Kentucky Derby.
Why would NYRA ever want to change when it gets to promote either a Triple Crown shot, a rubber match or just a regular Belmont.
Why not move the Kentucky Derby to the last weekend in April.
Do the horses that pull the milk wagons down the streets of Baltimore get an extra day of rest between work days now.
Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.
e.e. cummings
Phil has a question:
Are we making too much ado about the 2025 Kentucky Derby CLI winner skipping the Preakness.
Are we making not enough ado about the 2025 Kentucky Derby CLI winner skipping the Preakness.
Are we making not enough ado about the difficulty tracks have in filling stakes races even when there’s more than 2 weeks between.
I would my horse had the speed of your tongue.
William Shakespeare
SportsNet – Luke Fox – Maple Leafs’ Shanahan era defined by comfort, not Cups
TSN – After 11 seasons, Shanahan departs Maple Leafs
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
Phil has a question:
Is Shanahan going out for a Pizza.
How many teams have been as competitive as the Leafs during Shanahan’s time with the Leafs.
Is dumping Shanahan a performance or ticket selling decision.
SportsNet – Justin Bourne – The Maple Leafs are ready for change. But what does that really mean?
Phil has a question:
How is Marner not going to cash in this year when it’s a Mother Hubbard free agent cupboard this summer.
Who are the Leafs going to sign to replace Marner when it’s a Mother Hubbard free agent cupboard this summer.
Greetings. Thanks for being here. Again.
We are gathered here today to remember a hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and its truly remarkable era of non-success (2016-25). On Sunday night, they died as they had lived over the past nine years, showing enough promise that they were “different” to draw everyone in before imploding in spectacular fashion in the biggest moments of their season.
(Official cause of death this time: mauled by Panther.)
Though these Leafs are now gone, they will always live on in our hearts, remembered not-all-that-fondly for winning a ton of regular-season games, piling up individual accolades (and cap hits), and coming up small whenever a true showing of determination and fortitude was needed.
May they rest in peace
…
The Leafs seem so far away from all of that, even if, on paper, this series was close. They lost by one game, sure, but if you never show up for the ones that count, does it matter how many you lose by?
I don’t think so. And, finally, mercifully, for this fan base, there’s no way anyone at the top can either.
It ends with an ugly, tragic, torture theatre observers of this strange, stubborn and supremely talented sporting experiment will swear they saw coming, yet still find hard to grasp as truth and not some sick joke.
After Toronto’s core squandered a 2-0 series lead to the Florida Panthers and no-showed in Game 5, they found a pulse and fed their fans one more spoonful of hope in an all-hands-on-deck Game 6. Open up and say ahhh.
Then they yanked the rug all over again. Another 6-1 loss on the chewed-up, Molson-sloshed home ice they fought so hard to earn over 82 games, this loss tying the largest margin of defeat by any home team in a Game 7 ever.
It ends with gallows-humour “Let’s go Blue Jays!” chants from a sold-out-but-filing-out crowd.
It ends with thousand-mile, multi-million-dollar stares.
And it ends with a literally spitting-mad Marner instructing his teammates to “Wake the (expletive) up!”
SportsNet – Luke Fox – ‘Heartbreaking’: Maple Leafs must end era of Marner, Shanahan
No one remembers who took second place and that will never be me.
Enzo Ferrari
Phil has a question:
Would Mitch Marner look good in an Oilers Jersey.
Would Mitch Marner look good in a Canucks Jersey.
Would Mitch Marner look good in a Jets Treshers Jersey.
Would Mitch Marner look good in a Senators Jersey.
Would Mitch Marner look good in the bleu, blanc et rouge.
Would Mitch Marner look good in a Flames Jersey.
Would Mitch Marner look good in a Bruins jersey.
Would Jonathan Toews look good in an Oilers Jersey.
If Toews joins the Oilers and Perry plays one more year will the Oilers change their name to the Retreads.
Sometimes Phil just gotta give in to the Urge.
ESPN – Greg Wyshynski – Marchand makes history, tops Toronto in Game 7 for 5th time
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse
William Shakespeare
Phil has a question:
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Pimlico for the Preakness or the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Gulfstream for the Holy Bull or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Oaklawn for the Rebel or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Fair Grounds for the Louisiana Derby or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Aqueduct for the Wood Memorial or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Santa Anita for the Santa Anita Derby or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
Are the fans coming to or watching and wagering on Keeneland for the Blue Grass Stakes or a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.
If the Preakness does not know what it is how can Pimlico promote it.
It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settling a question without debating it.
Joseph Joubert
Phil has a question:
How do other sports handles Special Events:
Tennis Head – Italian Open £436M bid to become “fifth Grand Slam”
F1 – Lawrence Barretto – 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Emilia-Romagna – Who impressed at Imola?
No one remembers who took second place and that will never be me.
Enzo Ferrari
Phil has a question:
Will the F1 cars have a vroom vroom maker when they become electric.
It’s amazing how fast later comes when you buy now.
Milton Berle
Phil has a question:
Are the fans coming to Churchill to watch the Kentucky Derby or a qualifier for the Triple Crown.
Are the fans coming to Belmont to watch the Belmont Stakes or a qualifier for the Triple Crown or just the Belmont Stakes.
Will NYRA ever do anything that doesn’t benefit NYRA first and foremost.
Will CDI ever do anything that doesn’t benefit CDI first and foremost.
Did CDI put their close to $1billion infield project on hold because of demented Don the Con’s erratic tariff policy or because a bean counting suit questioned spending close to $1billion on a one day event or because they failed to consult with the Triple Crown of Running the Urinals.
IQ – Gordon Masson – Female urinals developed to eliminate festival queues
If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn! The most wonderful stuff!
Dr. Seuss:
Phil has a question:
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard of the Kentucky Derby.
How many people have the Kentucky Derby on their bucket list.
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard of the Preakness.
How many people have the Preakness on their bucket list.
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard of the Belmont.
How many people have the Belmont on their bucket list.
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard of the Triple Crown.
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard that modern horses require more time between races.
How many non thoroughbred racing fans have heard of the Breeders Cup.
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Eliot
Phil has a question:
Does Pimlico do as much promotion for the Preakness as CDI does for the Kentucky Derby.
Does NYRA do as much promotion for the Belmont as CDI does for the Kentucky Derby.
Does Pimlico do as much promotion for the Preakness as NYRA does for the Belmont.
Does Danielle Smith’s continual blaming everything on the Liberals benefit the people of Alberta in any manner.
Did TarPaulin get his own window to gaze from or does he have to share with the Undertaker and Clark Kent.
Is TarPaulin double dipping.
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.
Mary Oliver
Phil has a question:
Will moving the dates of the Preakness and Belmont to accommodate today’s trainers do anything to stop thoroughbred racing’s slide into an irrelevant niche sport and ultimately oblivion.
Would moving the dates of the Preakness and Belmont to accommodate today’s trainers have stopped the shuttering of Bay Meadows, Calder, Arlington, Golden Gate Fields, Hollywood Park, Laurel Park, Aqueduct, Marquis Downs, Blue Bonnet.
Will moving the dates of the Preakness and Belmont to accommodate today’s trainers do anything to stop Belinda Stronach from shuttering Gulfstream Park and CDI from shuttering Fairgrounds.
Bears Wire – Brendan Sugrue – Bears officially turn focus back to Arlington Heights for new stadium
Phil has a Question:
Is Leo XIV a Bears fan.
The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids! They ask questions and have a sense of wonder. They have curiosity. ‘Who, what, where, why, when and how!’ They never stop asking questions, and I never stop asking questions, just like a five year old.
Sylvia Earle
Phil has a question:
What will the Preakness be when there is no Florida Derby or Louisiana Derby.
Will Pimlico bring in a Maryland Derby to replace either the Florida Derby or Louisiana Derby.
The important thing is never to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
Phil has a question:
Did Pimlico coast on the Kentucky Derby promotions for too many years.
Where do Laurel Park and Pimlico rank in the hierarchy of tracks in the US.
How often do you wager on Laurel Park or Pimlico.
Does Pimlico have an image problem.
How much of the current problems with the Preakness are the result of Belinda Stronach’s slumlord management tactics with Pimlico and Laurel Park.
When is the last time that a horse who raced in Maryland won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or Belmont.
How much of the current problems with the Preakness are the result of the decline of thoroughbred racing in North America generally.
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot
Phil has a question:
If you don’t have the time to watch the fucking live show when the fuck are you going to watch the cheap shit video you took on your fucking phone.
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!
Dr. Seuss
Phil has a question:
How big of a problem is the winner of the Kentucky Derby skipping the Preakness anyhow.
How much of the Preakness problem is caused by the poor quality of the 3 year old races in Maryland leading up to the Preakness.
Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
Bernerd Baruch
Phil has a question:
What does the new Pimlico want the Preakness to be.
What do the thoroughbred racing fans want the Preakness to be.
What do the non thoroughbred racing fans want to the Preakness to be.
Who do we ask to make the choice – the thoroughbred racing fans who make up 10% of the Triple Crown audience or the other 90% that thoroughbred racing has continually abysmally failed to convert into regular thoroughbred fans.
What if the best answer is to enjoy what thoroughbred racing we have while we still have it.
Can you stop at one salted peanut.
I still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
After all is said and done, more is said than done.
Aesop
Plenty of decision-makers in horse racing, including previous operators of the Preakness, have toyed with retooling the race calendar, but it creates a philosophical dilemma. Is it right to change tradition and reorganize the calendar when the very thing that makes the Triple Crown so special is how difficult it is to achieve? Only 13 horses have done it, and only two since Affirmed in 1978.
A reorganization would also require multiple TV partners to manipulate their broadcast schedules. The Derby and Preakness are on NBC (though the Preakness rights are up this year), and Fox now has the Belmont.
“The single greatest marketing tool the industry has is the Triple Crown, and the industry needs to look at if the Triple Crown needs to be modernized,” says Foreman, an admitted traditionalist. “Every single sport has taken its traditions and made changes. Horse racing should be no different.”
“The Triple Crown has been around for 140 some odd years, and you don’t want to mess with tradition, I got it,” Tirico said. “But if you can’t follow this idea with anything that works right now in the sport, then we’re hurting the sport. So it would behoove everyone involved. The problem is Maryland does its own thing. So does Kentucky, so does New York, so does California, so does Florida. You talk about college football needing a commissioner? This sport needs a commissioner.”
Phil has a question:
How can moving the dates be easy when NYRA doesn’t want to move the Belmont Stakes.
There is nothing permanent except change.
Heraclitus
Paulick Report – Letters To The Editor: Change The Triple Crown? Our Readers Have Opinions
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy
The easy solution is as follows: keep the Derby right where it is, on the first Saturday in May; move the Preakness to the first Saturday in June; then slot the Belmont on Fourth of July. The benefits are obvious. Triple Crown interest is extended beyond six weeks, and horses should have a greater opportunity to participate in each leg (or at least fewer excuses for skipping one).
The Crown would also be clear of the NBA and NHL playoffs, and the NBA draft. July 4 is a traditional sports content desert, with hot-dog eating contests and midseason baseball serving as just about the only offerings. A Triple Crown bid on the Fourth would be the kind of event that grabs New York’s attention, and the rest of the nation’s.
Change before you have to.
Jack Welch
TDN – Bill Finley – Enough Already. It’s Time to Fix the Triple Crown
Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.
Robert C. Gallagher
Paulick Report – Letter To The Editor: ‘Ludicrous’ Not To Change Triple Crown Schedule
DRF – Matt Hegarty – Stakeholders silent on whether Triple Crown schedule should shift
After all is said and done, more is said than done.
Aesop
Phil has a comment:
The Kentucky Derby is locked in on the first Saturday in May. Since it’s NYRA that is recalcitrant about shifting the date of the Belmont which would also require moving many other Stakes around why not move the Preakness. Pimlico is rebuilding while Laurel Park fades into the sunset so right now is the ideal time to move the Preakness to the first Saturday in July – 4 weeks after the Belmont. Start a new tradition at the new Pimlico.
Bloodhorse – Joe Perez – Lukas Hopes Preakness Isn’t Losing its ‘Romance’
ESPN – Who has won the Preakness Stakes? All-time winners list
TDN – Gov. Moore And Co. Talk Pimlico Demo, Training Facility And Concept Art
Bloodhorse – Maryland Governor Approves Plans for ‘New’ Pimlico
ESPN – AP – Maryland board OK’s demolition, rebuild of Pimlico Race Course
Sports Business Journal – Maryland officials to vote on Pimlico demolition
The Baltimore Banner – Pamela Wood – Here’s what the rebuilt Pimlico Race Course could look like
Bloodhorse – Racing Post – Harry Derham – Preakness 150: Riggs Played Key Role in Classic
Phil M. Stockmen
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