NEWS
Triple Crown nominations down by 10.7% in 2009
Posted: Sunday, February 08, 2009 12:12 AM
by Jeff Lowe
The racing industry’s economy-induced contraction has reached the Triple Crown in the form of a 10.7% reduction in the number of horses made eligible for the 2009 series.
The early nomination period closed January 24 with 401 nominees, down 48 horses from 449 in 2008 and the lowest number since 358 horses were nominated for the 2005 series, which was the crop reduced by mare reproductive loss syndrome.
The three-year-olds of 2009 represent a North American crop of 41,115 live foals, which was the largest crop this decade. The percentage of nominated horses is 0.98%, compared with 1.1% last year.
“Business is off, the economy is off; the racing industry seems to be focusing on a 20% decline every time we put out a number,” said Edward Seigenfeld, executive director of Triple Crown Productions, which oversees the nomination process for the three host racetracks. “Down 11% is not too bad. We expected it to be around 400 horses, as a general estimate of what we had observed and what owners and trainers had been telling us, which is that there is a lot of tightening up this year.
“Basically it was, ‘That horse that had no chance at all that I nominated last year because I wanted to see his name in print, I’m not nominating this year.’ The dream part of it got hurt a little, but that’s the way it is.”
The early nomination fee was $600, and the late nomination period for $6,000 per horse closes on March 28. Seigenfeld said he expects the number of late nominees will be consistent with recent years at around a dozen.
Eclipse Award winner Steve Asmussen led all trainers with 25 horses nominated. Asmussen unseated Todd Pletcher, who had accounted for the most nominations every year since 2004. Pletcher ranked second this year with 20.
Zayat Stables is the leading owner with 22 nominated horses, more than double the next highest total.
Godolphin Racing is prominent with seven nominations, including champion two-year-old male Midshipman and fellow Eclipse Award finalist Vineyard Haven.
All seven Godolphin nominees are based with trainer Saeed bin Suroor at the Al Quoz training center in Dubai. Godolphin has been absent from the American Triple Crown since 2002, which was the last time any foreign-based horse competed in the series.
Simon Crisford, the stable’s racing manager, said Midshipman is tentatively scheduled for a race in early March, his first start since winning the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) in the colors of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Darley Stable.
Godolphin had three Triple Crown nominees in 2008. Overall, 27 foreign-based horses are nominated this year, an increase from 20 a year ago.
Overseas connections have an added incentive this year with Churchill Downs’s new offer of an automatic berth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) to the winner of the $150,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes on March 18 at Kempton Park in England.
The winning horse still must be nominated to the Triple Crown to accept the starting spot in the Derby.
A.P. Indy and Unbridled’s Song lead all sires with 14 offspring each among the early nominees.
For a list of early nominations, click here.
Jeff Lowe is a senior writer for Thoroughbred Times
Early nominations by year
2009 401
2008 449
2007 450
2006 426
2005 358
2004 434
2003 446
2002 405
2001 440
2000 387
