Maryland Jockey Club President & COO Tom Chuckas on Saturday said that he would "like to see horse racing's Triple Crown events played out over two months, not five weeks," according to Markus, Dodson & Barker of the Baltimore SUN. Chuckas prior to the Preakness Stakes "reiterated his position that a longer recovery period for horses would better benefit them and business in general." Chuckas: "I'm not anti-tradition. I have great respect for tradition. But the game's changed. We believe that the 3-year-old season is one of the best for the public to view. If you expand it, you have more time to do that. If you work collaboratively within the industry with Churchill (Downs), Belmont (Park) and the rest of the players, I think you can do something very, very special." He added, "We haven't had any conversations with Churchill; we haven't have any conversations with Belmont. We intend to after the Triple Crown season, and it's something we intend to take a hard look at" (Baltimore SUN, 5/18). Chuckas believes that the move would "help business at Pimlico, attracting better horses to the undercard." In N.Y., Jerry Bossert noted many horses "normally pass on the races in Baltimore to await the richer pots in New York, with more rest between the races" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/18).
SIGH OF RELIEF: In N.Y., Joe Drape reports New York regulators are "expected to allow" California Chrome "to wear his nasal strip" in the Belmont Stakes. New York State Gaming Commission Equine Medical Dir Scott Palmer "instructed state stewards to discontinue their ban on the 4-by-6-inch adhesive patch." Palmer, in a letter to racing officials, wrote, “I recommend that the stewards at state-based thoroughbred racetracks discontinue their ban on equine nasal strips. Equine nasal strips do not enhance equine performance nor do they pose a risk to equine health or safety and as such do not need to be regulated.” Drape notes stewards, including from the New York State Racing Association and the Jockey Club, "must vote on the measure, and it is expected to be approved" later today (NYTIMES.com, 5/19). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Bossert notes New York is the "only racing state in the country that doesn’t allow the nasal strips for thoroughbreds, though it does permit them in harness racing" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/19). The N.Y. TIMES' Drape notes I'll Have Another in '12 "wore the strip in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but New York stewards ruled that the breathing aid would be prohibited for the third leg of the Triple Crown" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/19). In Baltimore, Childs Walker writes the issue "highlights an enduring frustration in thoroughbred racing -- the arcane differences in rules from state to state" (Baltimore SUN, 5/19).
