With great power comes great responsibility, a wise man once told a young, budding superhero — and, just days after the latest Spider-Man movie hit theaters, two great racing powers, the New York Racing Association and Churchill Downs Incorporated announced their bombshell vision of a brand new day in the sport of thoroughbred racing.

Advertised as a move “that benefits the future of thoroughbred racing,” per Churchill chief executive officer Bill Carstanjen, the Thoroughbred Championship Series will comprise six races between May and September, three at Churchill Downs, two at Saratoga, and one at Belmont Park. The races in the series are the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, the Matt Winn, the Jim Dandy, the Travers and a new Championship Race to be held at Churchill in September. There will be an approximate four-week gap between each race, and the horse that earns the most points at the end of the series will be declared a champion. A $5 million prize pool will be distributed based on the final standings. Details have not yet been released about the points system or how the money will be allocated.

The headline on the NYRA news release read: “Horse racing’s biggest events unite in landmark new Thoroughbred Championship Series.”

So … is the Preakness Stakes no longer one of the sport’s biggest events?

Can you say that there’s unity when the second leg of the Triple Crown has been summarily overlooked and, perhaps, rendered thoroughly irrelevant?

That’s unity?

Continue reading at Times Union… (gift link, no paywall, you may need to enter an email address to read)