Triple Crown time.
In 2015, American Pharoah won Thoroughbred Racing’s Triple Crown, but the feat did not revive the horse racing industry. Justify has a chance to win the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes but it is not going to matter to anyone except the hardcore horse racing fan and the horse’s owners. The hardcore horse racing fan will be there when the grandstand is empty which is usually the case on most racing days.  Justify’s owners can start dreaming of getting millions upon of millions in stud fees.  American Pharoah is probably enjoying his life of ease and being a sire but no one talks about the 2015 Triple Crown winner in the same way as Secretariat. There was not movie about the horse like Sea Biscuit.  Attendance and revenues at racetracks didn’t suddenly rise because there was a Triple Crown winner.
What American Pharoah did in 2015 was to keep the Triple Crown races over a five week span in May and June in the public’s eye. There was some talk about changing the time frame of the races with the thought that creating more space between the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont would give more rest to a superstar horse and help the horse’s chances of winning the Triple Crown and increase interest in the races. American Pharoah didn’t bring horse racing back to being either the second or third most popular sport in America. State lotteries, off track bet and the availability of all forms of gambling in stores along with casinos sprouting up around the country have taken care of gambler’s needs. The horse racing industry has been saved by casino gambling at tracks. Changes could become to the industry, particularly the Preakness as that race could be moved out of the old Pimlico track in Baltimore to the nearby Laurel, Maryland. Horse racing is trying to justify staying relevant.
