Letters to Editor on Triple Crown, Bernardini Influence

No Need to Change Triple Crown Series As someone who has followed the Sport of Kings for more than six decades, and written about it for over half that, I retain clear memories of Darby Dan Farm's Chateaugay running in all three legs of the 1963 Triple Crown. In addition to winning the 1963 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Hall of Fame rider Braulio Baeza in the irons, he finished second to Candy Spots in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. Chateaugay was a son of Swaps, the 1955 Derby victor who provided Hall of Fame pilot Bill Shoemaker with his first of four triumphs in the Run for the Roses. "The Shoe" also piloted Candy Spots to Preakness glory. There is no question that American racing's 37-year drought without a Triple Crown winner spanning Affirmed in 1978, until American Pharoah's success in 2015, exacerbated dismay throughout the industry and media, resulting in what has become a yearly discussion about changing the "structure" of the three classic races. Most prominently the timing between each of the three legs. The decision of 2026 Derby winner Golden Tempo's connections to bypass this coming Saturday's Preakness has served to reanimate the debate. Should there be more than a fortnight between the Derby and Preakness? More than three weeks between the Preakness and Belmont? Within the last several years, certain quarters have also questioned whether or not the 12 furlongs of the Belmont (a.ka. "The Test of the Champion") has become passé, if not certifiably antiquated, based upon the contention that contemporary American breeders have little interest in breeding for stamina anymore in favor of breeding for speed per the dictates of the commercial market. That view is accentuated further by today's forbidding costs associated with breeding-owning-training-racing-boarding-feed-veterinary care, etc. Having just read your article "Middleman" in the May issue of BloodHorse, which sets forth many of the same threadbare arguments for altering our Triple Crown, it might prove instructive to cite two illuminating items for consideration. First, the structure of the Triple Crown in Great Britain where racing sans medication is the rule. And importantly, "tradition" vis-à-vis its three legs, specifically the distance of each race, and the timing-spacing thereof, which is sacrosanct. With all three races conducted on turf, of course, the "pattern" sets forth an eminently logical progression. The first leg, the Two Thousand Guineas, is run at a flat mile at Newmarket Racecourse, typically the same day as the Kentucky Derby. This year it was indeed held on May 2. To put a finer point on it, the Guineas distance is approximately 1,609 meters. The second leg, the Epsom Derby, is contested at Epsom Downs in early June. Its distance is 1-mile, 4 furlongs, and 10 yards. Approximately 2,423 meters. The final leg, the British St. Leger, is run at Doncaster Racecourse in September. The marathon distance for the concluding leg of the series is 1-mile, 6 furlongs, 132 yards. Approximately 2,937 meters. Now for the second, and larger, point. The British have had exactly two, TWO, Triple Crown winners since 1934. Or two spanning 91 years! To wit: In 1935, the undefeated Bahram concluded his two-season career that year, at age 3, with a flawless record of nine wins in nine starts for owner/breeder the H.H. Aga Khan III. British racing then survived the ravages wrought by World War II, and a 35-year drought without a Triple Crown hero, before Nijinsky II triumphed in 1970 for his owner, American industrialist Charles Engelhard Jr. The son of legendary stallion Northern Dancer (the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion) was bred by E.P. Taylor at his Windfields Farm in Ontario, Canada, and conditioned by Irish wizard Vincent O'Brien, known as "The Master of Ballydoyle." British racing has not had a Triple Crown winner since. Yet there is no year-in, year-out whining and complaining; no calls mandating revision of the series which could (theoretically, anyway) result in added fan interest and betting handle. Two elements that racing in Great Britain, along with increased racecourse attendance, is far more badly in need of compared to the state of racing in the colonies. While there does exist wailing and gnashing of teeth in Great Britain over the state of the industry, there is no "woe is us" at the 55-year-and-counting (as of this writing) chasm without a Triple Crown winner. In admirable "stiff upper lip fashion," there are no outright demands to make winning the Triple Crown any easier. British racing fans are resolute enough, and intelligent enough, to realize there is nothing inherently flawed about the series itself. Instead, come what may, they continue to revere high-class racing and high-class horses. We would do well to emulate their example. Reg Lansberry Beaufort, S.C. Bernardini's Strong Ties to Top Derby Finishers It's been noted that the past two Kentucky Derby winners are both out of Bernardini broodmares. It turns out that both runners-up, Journalism and Renegade, have Bernardini as the sire of their second dams. Paul Zipstein Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y.