Poor Planning

One of the things that is a mistake in racing is that different tracks do not coordinate their schedules in scheduling graded stakes races. A case in point is what happened on June 13 between two of the most important racing tracks in the country.

Churchill Downs ran the Grade II Fleur De Lis for fillies and mares 3YO and up at a distance of 1 1/8m. Belmont Park ran the Grade I Ogden Phillips for fillies and mares 3YO and up at a distance of 1 1/16m. Brilliant.

The Fleur had nine horses running. The Phipps had seven horses running but three of those were running as an entry. Couldn't it have been possible to reschedule both races so that horses could run in both? Racing desparately needs someone to coordinate stakes schedules so that graded races for the same horses are not conflicting with each other.