*Official Triple Crown Thread*

[johnnya24]

Maybe Bodemeister can pace-set I'll Have Another to the Triple Crown

[revo]

Maybe Bodemeister can pace-set I'll Have Another to the Triple Crown

He's doing a pretty good job of that so far!

[JudeBaldo]

Haven't read this thread from the beginning but I'll Have Another is an awesome name for a race horse.

[revo]

Bob Baffert threw in the towel today and said Bodemeister will skip the Belmont.

Also, the race drew a record crowd of 121,000+.

[Pogues]

Bob Baffert threw in the towel today and said Bodemeister will skip the Belmont.

Chicken.

[Judge Jude]

It's funny - if you're 50 like me, you well remember Secretariat, Seattle Slew and then Affirmed(Alyadar) winning the Triple Crown in 1973-77-78. Secretariat was the first since 1948, but it seemed "easy" to me as a teen.

But if you're under 45, this must seem like some impossible quest, I guess.

If the weather for the Belmont is half as nice as today was in the northeast, look for another record crowd - and, I suspect, the next Triple Crown winner.

The distance isn't ideal for Bodemeister, for sure, but Baffert should have run him unless he had real concerns about injury (which is plausible given the spindly state of today's thoroughbreds).

[revo]

Well, mainly for two reasons. First, it appears to be heavily gambling related which makes it a potential target for the anti-gambling lobby or whatever. Second, there have been a ton of scandals about abusing and juicing horses.

Of course it's a gambling-related sport! But if you seriously think there's more money bet on horse racing than on the most popular sport in the world (football), you're wrong. And we just don't know how much is bet on the other sports because it's illegal. But, it happens, as people bet on baseball, hockey, basketball and college sports. And anti-gambling lobby -- what about every Indian reservation lobbying for a casino?

And what about athletes juicing?

OK, I take it you're a PETA-fan. And you don't like animals exploited. That's fine. There's no explanation for drugging/whipping whatever, and I agree. But this isn't like the ASPCA -- if racing horses doesn't exist, then the fact is these very horses simply wouldn't exist. Period. It's not like horses are pets in this country, and then horses would then only exist to be exploited to do other chores. So forgive me if I never understood this argument that if a horse wasn't racing, he be better off galloping around a city underneath a police officer, or cooped up waiting for a little girl to show up every Sunday morning,

[revo]

I'll Have Another is the 12th horse since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978 to head into the Belmont Stakes with a chance. Here's how I rank the prior 11 on if they would have been "worthy" winners of the Crown:

Dey Were Worthy
1979 - Spectacular Bid: he's considered one of the greatest horses of all time, and his loss in the Belmont is still questioned (bad ride by inexperienced jockey; stepping on a pin, etc.). He shoulda won.

1987 - Alysheba: another HOFer, Alysheba came into his own after the Triple Crown races, having only won a maiden race before the Derby. he capped off an incredible 4-year old campaign with one of the greatest Breeders Cup Classics ever.

1989 - Sunday Silence: yet another HOFer, he's ranked as the 31st greatest thoroughbred by The Blood Horse. Unfortunately for his legacy, he had the misfortune of running into the 34th greatest thoroughbred ever, Easy Goer, who romped in the Belmont by 8 lengths in the second-fastest time ever.

1997 - Silver Charm: the fourth of this group to be inducted into the HOF, Silver Charm finished 2nd to Touch Gold in a minor upset. He had everything going for him heading into the race, but couldn't get it done.

2004 - Smarty Jones: was the undefeated winner of the Derby, and then romped in the Preakness by 12 lengths. How could he lose? He was intensely popular, and his Belmont Stakes is still the most-attended sporting event in New York state history. Somehow Birdstone caught him in the stretch and that was that, and he never raced again.

2008 - Big Brown: if everyone thought Smarty Jones would end the TC schneid, everyone knew Big Brown would. Like Smarty Jones, he was undefeated heading into the Belmont,but then something went terribly wrong and he was eased in the stretch, finishing dead last in what would also be the last race of his career.


Woulda Been OK
1981 - Pleasant Colony: he was a nice horse, a champion, and would've made a fine TC winner. But that's why there's a fine line between immortals and the just missed.

1998 - Real Quiet: he was lightly regarded heading into the Derby but crushed in the Preakness. He held a 5-length lead at the top of the Belmont stretch, only to have Victory Gallop catch him by a nose at the wire in the closest of the "just missed" margins.


No Bidness
1999 - Charismatic: a great story, he was a $25k claimer who somehow managed to win both the Derby and Preakness, but he broke a bone in the Belmont and valiantly still finished 3rd. It was his final race of a storied career, but he doesn't come close to the immortals who won the TC before.

2002 - War Emblem: another who emerged at the right time, War Emblem did little after his Belmont loss.

2003 - Funny Cide: an improbable winner of both the Derby & Preakness, he was the 1st gelding since 1929 to win. He skidded badly after his Belmont loss, but since geldings tend to run for years, he made a remarkable comeback three years later before being retired.


The jury's out on I'll Have Another, but I know I don't have the same confidence in him that I had in Smarty Jones, Big Brown, Silver Charm, etc. Maybe that's the kiss of death?

[onejayhawk]

Wasnt there something like 17 horses that won the Derby and The Preakness, but missed the TC, before Secretatiat.

J

[Mithrandir]

Arguably the greatest sports performance of all time.

[revo]

Wasnt there something like 17 horses that won the Derby and The Preakness, but missed the TC, before Secretatiat.

J

There were 10 that did it prior to Secretariat (that includes Forward Pass, who was awarded the 1968 Kentucky Derby win via DQ a week after the race was over):

1932 - Burgoo King
1936 - Bold Venture
1944 - Pensive
1958 - Tim Tam
1961 - Carry Back
1964 - Northern Dancer
1966 - Kauai King
1968 - Forward Pass
1969 - Majestic Prince
1971 - Canonero II

[Pogues]

Out of curiousity Revo, where is the list you are referencing for "greatest thoroughbreds"? I'd like to take a gander at it.

[Judge Jude]

The two most amazing, underappreciated sports events I've ever seen - and I've been luckier than almost anyone to see so many in person, but not these two - are Secretariat in the Belmont and Nicklaus, a lion in winter, snatching the 1986 Masters. The galleries there just exploded, to where golfers several holes away heard it - and knew what was coming, like a horror movie. His last and best major.

Sham was the 2nd horse to break the 2-minute barrier at the Derby, iirc. Too bad it was a hiccup before the other horse, Secretariat, did it next to him in the same race. Watch Sham in the Belmont. That's what best-ever does to a merely great horse.

Affirmed and Alydar also a classic sports showdown. Every now and then, two all-time greats get stuck on the same stage.

[Mithrandir]

Out of curiousity Revo, where is the list you are referencing for "greatest thoroughbreds"? I'd like to take a gander at it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-Horse_magazine_List_of_the_Top_100_U.S._Racehorses_of_the_20th_Century

Some clown ranked Secretariat 14th best and that's why Man O War is number one.

[revo]

Out of curiousity Revo, where is the list you are referencing for "greatest thoroughbreds"? I'd like to take a gander at it.

The Blood-Horse, one of the best horse racing publications in the US, ran a poll in '99, then wrote a book on it:

http://www.amazon.com/Thoroughbred-Champions-Racehorses-20th-Century/dp/1581500246/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338612052&sr=8-1

I have it somewhere in my basement. Obviously it's 13 years old at this point, and it neglects many great horses who never ran in the US, but it gets the point across.

The galleries there just exploded, to where golfers several holes away heard it - and knew what was coming, like a horror movie.

I felt the same way at the '98 Belmont Stakes. I've never heard a crowd erupt so loudly as when Real Quiet had a 5-length lead for the TC at the top of the stretch. Despite the loss, as I was there with my dad, it ranks as my greatest in-person sports moment.

Affirmed and Alydar also a classic sports showdown. Every now and then, two all-time greats get stuck on the same stage.

I would put Affirmed/Alydar & Sunday Silence/Easy Goer as two of the greatest rivalries among greats ever. Secretariat was the greatest ever....no one's confusing Sham as being up there.

Some others may be Alysheba/Bet Twice in 1987; Majestic Prince/Arts & Letters in 1969; & Dr. Fager/Damascus in 1967.