Horse racing fans played witness to a birth and a funeral last week when MI Developments Inc. announced a $5.5-million bonus plan for the connections of a horse who sweeps a pair of designated prep races at its winter-spring tracks and then wins the Preakness Stakes (G1).
It was the birth of a great idea that shows the "new" racetrack operator's commitment to growing its core business, but it may be the death of the Triple Crown series as we know it.
Beginning in 1986, Triple Crown Productions marketed the series of races by gathering common nominations for all three races—the Kentucky Derby (G1), Preakness, and Belmont Stakes (G1)—negotiating a television contract, and helping to arrange a bonus for sweeping the series.
The three companies that own the races—Churchill Downs Inc., MI Developments, and New York Racing Association—still accept a common nomination, but their joint efforts for TV ended in 2004 and there has been no umbrella sponsor since Visa Inc. left in ’05.
MI Developments’ new Preakness 5.5 promotion is a larger step toward an “each track for itself” mentality.
In talking to Thoroughbred Times about the promotion, MI Developments Vice Chairman Dennis Mills acknowledged that the Kentucky Derby is the sport’s most valuable property and that his company was trying to leverage its Preakness by tying the $5.5-million bonus not only to its race but also to traditional Kentucky Derby prep races.
MI Developments increased the purse of both the Santa Anita (G1) and Florida (G1) Derbys to $1-million, which makes them not only among the most lucrative races in the country but also key races on the Kentucky Derby trail because that race’s 20 starters are determined by earnings in graded stakes.
Churchill last year paid General Electric Co.'s NBC to televise key Derby preps, which it will likely do again in 2011. That series probably will include the Louisiana Derby (G2), which Churchill hosts at its Fair Grounds in New Orleans and boosted to $1-million for next year. NBC had televised all three Triple Crown races from 2001 through '04, when NYRA made its own deal with Disney Corp.’s ABC that expired this year as did NBC’s deal with the Derby and Preakness, so all three races are again on the table.
Churchill President Bob Evans has said that he would like to see all three races on one network. NYRA President Charles Hayward has said that he likes the Belmont’s deal with Disney because of the ABC-ESPN synergy but that he expects pressure for NYRA to sign the Belmont on as part of the series on one network.
Ed Seigenfeld, who served as executive director of Triple Crown Productions through 2009, had said numerous times after NYRA negotiated its own television deal for the Belmont that the splintered coverage of the series was a major hurdle toward bringing back an umbrella sponsor such as Chrysler Group or Visa.
That both MI Developments and Churchill have seemed to prefer marketing their own race to marketing the series should be of most concern to NYRA, since the Belmont is marooned when there is no Triple Crown on the line and especially so when neither the Derby nor Preakness winner competes in the race, as was the case this year.
What is interesting about NYRA seemingly being left out of the television and marketing, though, is that it will soon be flush with cash thanks to video lottery terminals at Aqueduct, and there is no reason not to think that it will not offer big purses for races such as the Gotham Stakes (G3), Wood Memorial Stakes (G1), Belmont, Travers Stakes (G1), and who knows what else.
As races before the Kentucky Derby, the Gotham and Wood would still be preps for the first Saturday in May while still potentially being a part of a Belmont bonus scheme similar to what MI Developments is offering.
And from a marketing perspective, the Preakness 5.5 is a winner because it gives the Maryland Jockey Club something more than just the Derby winner to market.
In the past, January through April is all about the Derby, but offering $5.5-million to the winners of certain races and the Preakness puts the latter race more in the conversation.
Up to five horses (assuming no dead heats) could be in the Santa Anita and Florida Derbys with a chance at the bonus, and the perfect storm for the Preakness would be if the race included two horses with a chance at the bonus plus the Derby winner. NBC could have a field day with the “Derby winner to try to deny $5-million bonus” and “$5-million bonus could derail Triple Crown attempt” storylines.
What Churchill and MI Developments have done in the past year to bolster their properties is a refreshing example of marketing their core business, but the Triple Crown as a joint property should not be ignored either.
8 soothsayers: