They may have created a problem with the Kentucky derby.

Six years ago they put in place a new point system in order to qualify for the derby. The favorite has won the derby six years in a row? Mostly by front-running horses.

Coincidence? Qualifying for the derby used to be based on earnings. That meant sprinters could earn enough to get into the derby and assure a sustained fast pace. Closers would have a chance with a sustained fast pace. The sprinters have been eliminated with the new point system. Top sprint races are not included in the point system.

People are saying yesterdays derby had a very fast pace and they are correct, except the fast pace ended at the quarter pole, it was not sustained. They crawled the rest of the race. The final time was very slow. That makes it very hard for closers to close.

Horses who have talent like Justify and Good Magic can hang on with a slow pace. If there was a fast pace say for the first mile yesterday, Justify and Good magic may have been caught or at least challenged.

I may be wrong about this, It could be a coincidence, there have been many sloppy tracks recently for the derby, that can also make it hard on closers because they are getting hit on the face with mud. I do know this, the favorite winning six years in a row is hard to do.