For photos from the Meadowlands contact Lisaphoto@playmeadowlands.com

Sunday, November 23, 2014

A Needed Change to the TVG Series

For some reason, some people thought by winning the Breeders Crown Open Trot, Commander Crowe would be invited to participate in the TVG Final.  Where such a rumor began is unknown, perhaps people thinking if Commander Crowe was invited to participate in the Breeders Crown, certainly there must be some mechanism to get invited to the TVG Final.

Anyway, Commander Crowe heads home arriving as a conqueror Monday after his win over North America's best.  Quite honestly, his return home is a loss for the TVG series.  No complaints here; after all rules are rules and the TVG series is a late closing series which requires horses to earn points to compete in the final.

What would be good for racing is if European (and I imagine in a matter of fairness, Australasian) horses could nominate to the TVG series with certain overseas stakes races designated as TVG series-eligible races where horses could earn points to make them eligible for the final; either they would have to earn their way in by having more points than participating North American trotters or by offering invitations for up to two foreign horses based on the total number of points earned by them.

This would benefit North American racing by bringing more focus on the TVG series trotting races (and pacing when considering Australasia) as local horses could be facing their counterparts come November; maybe making the races desirable for simulcasting.

Any opportunity to widen the global reach of North American harness racing should be encouraged.

No comments: