When I was a kid, ESPN still covered racing. Not just the Derby but the derby preps, Travers, Swaps, Pacific Classic and pretty much any other big race you could think of. I didn’t grow up in the golden age of horse racing. I grew up in the era of Hansel, Holy Bull and Tabasco Cat. Of these horses only one; Holy Bull, is listed as one of the 100 greatest racehorses of all time, yet they all kept racing on ESPN and in the spotlight.

So, what did they do that ESPN liked so much?

All three of those horses raced frequently and performed consistently. They all campaigned in their two year old season and three year old season and combined for 46 starts during that time. Each horse was in training for approximately 18 months, giving them an average of 10.2 starts per year!

This allowed fans to get to know the horses and understand the rivalries. We didn’t have to play the guessing games that we have to play today. Holy Bull and Tabasco Cat ran against one another in both the Derby and the Travers. Will Orb and Oxbow meet again in the midsummer derby? They might, but it’s a toss up, whereas in the early 90’s it was a forgone conclusion.

This leaves ESPN in a precarious position. They want to televise great races like the Travers, but they know that no one besides die-hard racing fans will care. Last years Travers marked a new low. The race was a thrilling dead-heat, but unfortunately it was a dead-heat between two horses more suited for allowance races than the greatest non-triple crown race in the country. In fact, if 2012 played true to the form of the 80’s and early 90’s, I’ll have Another would have been healthy throughout the year and been in the Travers. Of course, his path to the winners circle would’ve been difficult because Dullahan and Bodemeister would’ve been there as well. Unfortunately, none of these horses could weather the demands of a triple crown campaign.

If all three horses ran in the major summer races for three year olds, the internet would’ve been buzzing. Three champions duking it out at the graveyard of favorites! Espn would televise it because they wanted to, rather than televising it simply because of a desire to be impartial and televise all American sports.

I don’t have to go into why I’ll have Another wasn’t there. The modern thoroughbred cannot give 100 percent over three races in a span of seven weeks and not come away with tendinitis. Some will say it’s the breeding practices while others will say it’s the training methods. I suspect that the way we train horses at the age of two may be the primary factor, but the truth is no one really knows. What we do know is that human nature being what it is if you incentivize a behavior more people will adopt said behavior. This is why we need to reward consistent thoroughbreds above all else.

I propose that we implement one simple rule: In order to be in the running for an Eclipse award a horse must have competed in at least nine starts that year, unless the horse is a juvenile and in that case the horse must have competed in five starts. Each grade one will be assigned points, and the horse with the most points who also meets the minimum start requirements is crowned the champion.

Think of how great this would be. Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Bernardini, Big Brown, Summer Bird – they would all have to give their eclipse awards back. Basically, every horse from the last decade would have to give his or her award back except for Curlin, and that is how it should be.

I long for the days when watercooler discussion about racing is as ubiquitous as basketball and football, but I know that will never happen without sturdier animals who can compete consistently.

I’m sure that ESPN is rooting for our sport, but at some point we have to actually give them something and someone to root for.