Kentucky Derby qualifying: Graded Earnings out, Point System in!

DiscreetCat

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/70551/churchill-revamps-derby-qualifying-system

dirtyshirt

Churchill Downs officials decided to move forward with a change in the system after commissioning a poll of more than 300 sports fans nationwide that showed 83% did not understand how a Thoroughbred qualified to compete in the Kentucky Derby.

But they completely get it now.

FlyinLate

And now they have confused the remaining 17%.

I haven't done my research in to this yet, but in all honesty I like the idea. One thing several of my friends who do not care for the sport argue about is that there is no "team or player to follow", which is an argument I fully understand. The only problem is, more televised coverage is going to be absolutely necessary for this plan to work. The broadcasts should include aired video footage of how contenders got to this race, how many points they need, etc. Lets see if they can pull this one off.

Horsin~Aro

Poor Mine That Bird and War Emblem woulda been left for the preakness or belmont

DiscreetCat

dirtyshirt wrote: »

Churchill Downs officials decided to move forward with a change in the system after commissioning a poll of more than 300 sports fans nationwide that showed 83% did not understand how a Thoroughbred qualified to compete in the Kentucky Derby.

But they completely get it now.

LOL. Yeah, i was kind of scratching my head when going over the new rules. And i follow this stuff.

The best thing about it that i can see is that it puts less emphasis on graded earnings that were accumulated in 2yo races (particularly sprints, which have almost no bearing on Derby potential), while putting more emphasis on the major 3yo preps. Great news for a horse like Bodemeister, who still had to at least second (i think) in the Arkansas Derby just to qualify on earnings this year (this after he had just run a big second in the San Felipe).

Seems more fair on the face of it. We shall see.