Visa executives were creditable when they said repeatedly that wanted to pay out the $5 million bonus. For evermore, a history-making Triple Crown champion would be associated with a company that would further construct their national brand around a racehorse. But Visa never got the opportunity.

Instead, they correctly are putting their promotional dollars to better use by sponsoring the series’ first leg, the Kentucky Derby. For less money they could promote the Derby winner every year no matter what happened in Baltimore and New York. Visa’s decision made good business sense. It would serve the sport well if the Triple Crown people took a similar tack.

Without question, a slightly longer Triple Crown series would not only make promotional sense but, of greater significance, would do what’s best for today’s thoroughbred. To wit:

Keep the Triple Crown distances and venues the same, if that’s possible given the current state of racing in Maryland. But the Derby has secured its place for a horse race that occurs each year on the first Saturday in May. With all due respect to the Belmont’s demanding mile and a half, the Kentucky Derby — because of its distance, place on the calendar and field size — is the most difficult of the three. It is deservedly called “America’s Race.”

Run the Preakness on the first Saturday in June, giving it its own identity in that context, but more importantly the Derby runners would get an extra two weeks of recovery time. The Preakness thus would be a more coveted second jewel through greater participation of Derby runners and, with more time, late developers and non-Derby qualifiers would need to join the series. This has the dual effect of doing what’s best for still maturing 3-year-olds and makes the challenge more daunting for horses and horsemen alike.

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And what would be more apropos than concluding this uniquely American series by holding the Belmont Stakes on the 4^th of July? This makes the race an instant classic for the general sports fan by creating a legitimate national holiday event, run somewhere between the backyard barbecue and fireworks display. It makes the race somewhat less dependent on the quest for a Triple Crown. This schedule gives Triple promoters nine weeks to bang the drum instead of five.

For those who would object because it alters the integrity of the challenge and diminishes the accomplishment of Triple Crown winners past, stretching the series over a longer duration at once makes the challenge to horse and trainer more difficult yet easier on the modern animal. Indeed, wouldn’t the accomplishment be more significant if the Derby and/or Preakness winner had to defeat a greater number of series rivals?

All this would upset none of the traditional prep schedules and allow horsemen more time to develop their young, maturing stock. The lesser Derbies would still have their place and there would be no need for Monmouth Park and Saratoga to alter the dates for the Haskell and Travers.

A longer Triple Crown season simultaneously increases and decreases the degree of difficulty, brightens the spotlight, creates and sustains added interest, produces bigger and better wagering events, all while doing what’s best for the horse. Isn’t it time for enlightened self interest to benefit the equine stars that, in words once uttered by trainer Ron McAnally, “give their lives for our pleasure?”