| RACING |
Bill Heller
Eclipse Sportswire, Derbe Glass/Coglianese
TH E ROAD TO TH E KENTUCKY DERBY TAKES A DETOUR W
ho could have imagined that the road to the Kentucky Derby would have a detour? Or that the order of the Triple Crown Classics would be reshuffled? Or that major stakes would be contested without fans? Or that three undefeated colts who might have been vying for favoritism in the Derby would be injured or retired? The first Saturday in May, the Run for the Roses in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, became the first Saturday in September—September 5. That will be the second leg of the Triple Crown, not the usual first. The Preakness Stakes, regularly the second leg of the Triple Crown, was rescheduled for October 3 as the final leg of the Triple Crown.
50
TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 56
And the Belmont Stakes, reduced from a mile-and-a-half to a mile and-an-eighth, will begin the Triple Crown instead of ending it on June 20. Horses who had already earned enough points to start for the Kentucky Derby may now be joined by late-developing three-year-olds arriving on the scene. The top 20 point leaders to get into the Derby on the original date for the Kentucky Derby (May 4) could look much different than the top 20, four months later. It’s never been more challenging for trainers entrusted with the difficult goal of getting their horses to peak on the first Saturday of May than being able to do the same four months later. “I’m just glad they’re having the Triple Crown,” Baffert said. “They could have canceled them all.”