Is Thoroughbred Racing’s ‘Crown Series’ Simply Too Difficult for Modern Horses?

Remember the 1997 Triple Crown series? The dramatic confrontations involving an exceptional group of 3 year olds are only a hazy memory now.

Silver Charm out-dueled Captain Bodgit to win the Kentucky Derby by inches. He edged Captain Bodgit and Free House in a three-horse photo finish to win the Preakness. Then Touch Gold out-kicked Silver Charm and Free House in the final yards to capture the Belmont Stakes.

These horses were so exciting that television ratings soared and more than 70,000 people attended the Belmont Stakes. People in the sport hoped that the 3 year olds would stimulate public interest throughout the year. But that’s not what happened. Instead:

* Captain Bodgit, who had always raced with a troublesome tendon, aggravated the problem in the Preakness and was retired.

* Silver Charm got sick after the Belmont and was found to have an elevated white blood-cell count. Trainer Bob Baffert decided to rest him for the remainder of the year and point him for a campaign as a 4 year old.

* Touch Gold won one stakes after the Belmont, then finished a distant last in the Pegasus Handicap at the Meadowlands. Hoof problems had presumably taken their toll on him.

* Free House won one stakes this summer but finished last in his most recent start, the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. He reportedly was suffering from a respiratory problem.

This attrition of top 3 year olds is hardly unusual, of course. In recent years, many horses have dropped out of sight after winning a Triple Crown race. But this year’s 3-year-old stars were so talented, tough and consistent that their fate inevitably raises this question: Is the configuration of the Triple Crown series too difficult for modern horses?

At no other stage of their careers are top American horses subjected to such a tough regimen as 3 year olds face in the spring. Consider, for example, what the nation’s best older horse is doing to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup next month. After Formal Gold won the Woodward Stakes at Belmont on Sept. 20, trainer Bill Perry announced that he would skip the rich Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 18 so he would have seven weeks’ rest before running in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic at Hollywood Park. And this horse is a seasoned 4 year old! Yet relatively immature 3 year olds are asked to run three grueling races in a five-week period.

Baffert saw how difficult the schedule was as he managed Silver Charm this spring. “Silver Charm is a pretty tough horse,” Baffert said. “But I trained him hard pointing for the Derby. I think that shipping back and forth to different tracks took something out of him, too. I wouldn’t have even run him in the Belmont if he hadn’t been going for the Triple Crown. After the Belmont he was not doing well. He was just a tired horse, and I couldn’t keep going with him. I had to give him a breather.”

The punishing nature of the Triple Crown series regularly brings forth suggestions for changing it. Trainer Wayne Lukas has recommended shortening the distances--running the Derby at 1 1/8 miles and the Belmont at 1 1/4. Others have advocated more time between the races.

But we purists like to see modern horses subjected to the tests that the greats of the past faced. If a horse is going to win the Triple Crown and have his name bracketed with Secretariat and Seattle Slew, he ought to overcome the same challenges. Moreover, the short time span between the races allows the general public to focus its attention on horse racing for a five-week period. The sport would be ill-advised to tamper with the one set of attractions that still commands widespread interest.

But the attrition of the Triple Crown competitors prevents the racing season from coming to a satisfying, definitive climax. Months ago, racing fans could savor the prospect of this wonderful crop of 3 year olds matching up against the best group of older horses in at least a decade--Formal Gold, Will’s Way, Skip Away and Gentlemen--at Hollywood Park Nov. 8. Now only Touch Gold has a chance of running in the Breeders’ Cup--if his foot heals.

The ranks of the older horses have suffered casualties, too: Gentlemen has been suffering from physical problems and Will’s Way has been retired because of a leg injury. The season that began in such exciting fashion is likely to end with a whimper.