Belmont Stakes 2012: Horses To Move In To ‘Same Locker Room’ By Wednesday

The Belmont Stakes is coming up this weekend and, in a move that isn’t common, all of the race horses will move into the race’s stakes barn by Wednesday afternoon and stay there until the day of the race.

There are obvious drawbacks, such as the issue of horses being spooked due to unfamiliar conditions, but I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill is happy about the “transparency” of everything. In fact, he says it should add to some legitimacy for the sport of horse racing, according to comments transcribed by BloodHorse.com.

“I know the other guys will probably hate me for this, but I like the thought of showing the general public all the horses are in the same locker room, they’re all being looked after real thoroughly,” he said.

“Just the transparency that our game probably lacks is key. You get a lot of commentary from people who don’t know the horses, who don’t know the horsemen, and don’t know how they’re cared for. This way you have everyone in an isolated vicinity and everyone who wants to come and kind of watch what’s going on there and make a judgment from what’s really happening and not guessing what’s going on in that guy’s locker room or that guy’s locker room. I think it’s a good thing.”

Whether this move really changes anything from a public perspective remains to be seen. At the very least, though, its positives seem to have some merit.

For more on the Belmont Stakes and the race for the Triple Crown, stay with this StoryStream and check out SB Nation’s horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come. There, you’ll also find a A Beginner’s Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.