Spend a Buck’s Feats Seen as Boost For Racing

New York racing official Gerard McKeon thinks the Triple Crown series probably gained as much as it lost by Spend a Buck’s controversial defection from the final two legs of the traditional test of 3-year-old thoroughbreds.

The benefits are two-fold, says McKeon, president of the New York Racing Association, Inc., sponsor of the June 8 Belmont Stakes, final leg of the Triple Crown:

1 -- In the publicity generated by the decision of Spend a Buck’s owner Dennis Diaz to keep his Kentucky Derby winner out of the Preakness Stakes, middle jewel of the crown, so the colt could train for his successful run for a record $2.6 million, bonus-padded payday in the Jersey Derby.

2 -- By the excitement that will be created later in the season when Spend a Buck finally runs against Preakness winner Tank’s Prospect and the eventual winner of the Belmont.

Unlike some racing traditionalists, McKeon feels no ill will towards Diaz and trainer Cam Gambolati, who announced May 28 that Spend a Buck was too tired by his Jersey Derby effort to run in the Belmont.

Nor is he angry with Robert Brennan, the creative Garden State Park official who came up with the bonus series that drew Spend a Buck away from the Triple Crown pursuit. The Garden State Park Challenge offered a $2 million bonus to a 3-year-old that could win the newly reopened track’s Cherry Hill Mile, Garden State Stakes and Jersey Derby and the Kentucky Derby, first leg of the Triple Crown.

In fact, McKeon’s feelings are quite the contrary.

“I was rooting for him (Spend a Buck) in the Jersey Derby,” McKeon said in a telephone interview. “I think Spend a Buck is a great thoroughbred and I think they’ve done a wonderful job with him.

“I’m disappointed that he’s not going to be in the Belmont, but there still is our Travers (Aug. 17 at Saratoga). And with him and Preakness winner Tank’s Prospect and whoever wins the Belmont -- well, that makes that race all the better. The racing events are all better when you have that kind of competition.

“I like Bob Brennan,” McKeon added. “He has a million dollar personality, and he’s a dynamic merchandiser. He got himself three million dollars worth of publicity in the New York papers with his Jersey Derby, and it didn’t cost him a cent.”

But, McKeon said, the Triple Crown benefitted in much the same way.

“It’s curious to note that all of the publicity he (Brennan) got was because of the Triple Crown,” McKeon said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard the words ‘Triple Crown’ so often in a span of just a few weeks. In a funny way, more people know more about the Triple Crown now than they did before.”

McKeon said the large attendance and record Preakness handle shows that the Triple Crown events are strong enough to stand by themselves even without the opportunity for a Triple Crown champion in a given year.

“Fans that come to those kinds of events come regardless of who’s racing, and to that extent, there is no weak link in the Triple Crown. Without each of the legs, there is no Triple Crown, and, I believe, that even if no purses were offered in the Triple Crown, they’d still run in the Triple Crown.

“You know, one thing we were supposed to learn from Bob Brennan the past few weeks is that tradition is a four-letter word. But I don’t buy that. Every sport has its tradition, its big events, its Super Bowls, its halls of fame, and people are interested in them for that reason, regardless of who’s playing.”

McKeon’s upbeat opinions do not mean that he is against changing the Triple Crown. But he said the sponsors of the three races discussed possible increases in moneys or different marketing campaigns long before the Garden State challenge was announced. He said they still intend to meet later this year to discuss such possibilities.

“But we don’t see any urgency in having that meeting,” McKeon said. “What transpired the past few weeks was a once in a lifetime event.”