Posted on 06/07/2014 4:14:03 PM PDT by kingattax
The longest wait in sports is not over.
California Chrome's bid to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978 fell short in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
After winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes by a length and a half, the mile-and-a-half Belmont proved to be too much for Chrome, who finished fourth to winner Tonalist.
And with that, the longest drought in Triple Crown history continues.
Since Affirmed's sweep 36 years ago, 13 horses now have gone to Belmont Park with the Derby and Preakness in hand only to falter somehow, some way. Real Quiet was nipped at the wire in 1998; War Emblem stumbled out of the gate in 2002; Smarty Jones faltered down the stretch in '04; and I'll Have Another was scratched with an injury the day before the race in '12.
Now add Chrome's fade down the stretch to the list.
Still, it was an impressive run for Chrome, especially considering the horse's backstory: a modest pedigree, blue-collar owners, 77-year-old trainer who'd never sniffed a Triple Crown start until now and jockey who was believed to be past his prime.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
And if they do change the rules the Triple Crown becomes meaningless because they forced one to happen.
costas is a total waste of skin.
on another note, you probably saw the race. do you have any comment about the way Chrome’s jockey had him in perfect position on the inside and swung him off the rail completely to the outside ?
IMO that was a bad tactical mistake. Chrome looked real comfortable where he was and after the jockey moved him, he just wasn’t running the same he was up until then.
the horse just didn’t seem to like where he got moved to.
It's too bad CC's owner was so bitter. It's always better to be a gracious loser. He burned a lot of good will in a few seconds.
that was unfortunate and he will probably regret it after things calm down.
Exactly. That is why it is so hard to win the TC. You have fresh horses in a longer race.
But that is why a triple is so special. If it was easy anyone could do it.
Secretariats top rival was Sham...who ran all 3 races,,,Seattle Slews top rival was Sanhedrin...who ran all 3 races...and Alydar ran all 3 races against Affirmed...so, who knows.
There wouldn’t have been a fresh horse that would have defeated those three TC winners.
Could you imagine the crying if an NFL team allowed to sit out the playoffs was suddenly allowed to contend for the Super Bowl?
In the past most horses raced all 3 races. You didn't see spoilers coming in. Look at the Affirmed/Alydar duel. Those two battled all 3 races and the best horse won. This thing with sitting out races and spoiling the triple started sometime in the 80s. I can't remember the name of the horse, but I remember a Derby winner who was paid over a million dollars by an Arab sheikh to skip the Preakness. That was when it started.
Horseracing has been losing popularity for years and this is one of the reasons.
The Triple Crown is not a tournament, it is three independent events, just like the Golf and Tennis Grand Slams are separate independent tournaments. Each has its’ own criteria.
I can’t say. I was pulling for Cali Chrome like everyone else, and yes it looked off.
There is a lot of planning and strategy that goes into a season much less a big race. I thought he looked off about a third in. Was expecting a burst at the end but that’s a really long track.
But what an awesome horse.
Hopefully will see his sister out there soon.
As screwed up as America is right now, America needs a Seabiscit
It’s always a bad idea to leave your horse on the rail. You’re just asking to get boxed in. When I saw him go to the rail, I knew he was in trouble. He’s never come from the rail in his other races. He just had nothing left. Jock wen t to the whip and got...no response.
The three races were never design to be equal. The conditions change, race
length changes and who knows what the horses feel like at any given time.
Here are the race tracks involved:
1.Kentucky Derby, run over the 1 1/4-mile (2.0 km) dirt
track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky;
2.Preakness Stakes, run over the 1 3/16-mile (1.9 km) dirt
track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland;
3.Belmont Stakes, run over the 1 1/2-mile (2.4 km) dirt
track, the longest in USA thoroughbred racing, at Belmont
Park in Elmont, New York,
He has a nasty habit of complaining about a lot of things. Didn't think he was treated properly at Churchill Downs during Derby either.
Then they shouldn’t be offering prize money and trophy for winning all three.
i kind of agree also...but, i wasn’t too crazy about the jockeys ride today...he seemed tentative, but, Chrome did look fatigued.
NFL teams have missed the playoffs in one conference only to watch a team with a worse record not only make the playoffs in the other conference but get to the SB and even win it.
Each race has their qualifying rules. Even in the old days there were horses that ran at Belmont and not the other two. In the era of the “super horse” they didn’t tend to contend, but they were there.
Horseracing is losing popularity because it’s actually kind of boring. There’s 2 minutes of race and 10 minutes of setup and then 2 more minutes of race. Add to that the frequency with which horses get injured, and those injuries result in death. And then you spread Indian casinos all over the country so people can get their gamble on someplace other than the track. A Crown winner might gin up excitement for a couple of years, or maybe not. Part of what makes the Crown exciting now is it’s been so long since it’s been won, once somebody wins it the drought is over, it might even become common again, which gets rid of suspense.
Chrome had to get out to an early lead, and it didn’t happen, once he went outside, it was really over.
He wants everyone who does a better job than his team did to have an asterisk next to their names.
I think horse racing has become more global in the past 36 years. Before that, it was more an all American event.
New international resources produce great horses. Enter them and one will win.
It is like poker. Big names in Poker don’t win many of the big tournaments. There are too many talented and lucky guns that make it all the way. The final table at the WSOP is populated by nine no names, 21-28 years old.
As Chromes owner said, horses have to earn enough points to qualify for the Derby. Once you're in, that should be the field for the Triple Crown. No spoilers allowed.
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