The Triple Crown
The triple crown races this past spring brought us all the excitement and the drama that horse racing invariably does. Eager anticipation after months of expectations were put to the test in the two minutes it took to run the Kentucky Derby. Some owners were switching their horses to more accomplished trainers, jockeys were clinging to keep their mounts through no fault of their own, and horses were touted in the papers by sports writers looking for sensations.
By the time the Preakness came after the biggest shock result of the Kentucky Derby in years (and slowest time), one had to wonder what was going to put the spark back into this series ? What would make people come back to the races ?
The well documented incident at the head of the stretch could not have been better scripted and the little known jockey on the cheaply purchased Afleet Alex found themselves the new American Heroes.
Going to New York three weeks later for the Belmont the field of runners looked like a used car lot with their trainers trying to salvage something from their salesman pitches that we all heard throughout the year. Belmont Park also did not do too many favours for the sport of horse racing by raising the club house entry fee to $20. (When asked why, someone noted that they expected less people as no triple crown could be won ... nice way to support the 'loyal' fans).
Fortunately the small-time jockey and trainer (Rose and Ritchie) who were having their first taste of the Triple Crown drama produced their horse for another emphatic performance. The winning margin of seven lengths probably looked better due to the campaign weary competitors and the ambitiously placed allowance horses put in by trainers who would think they know better.
For the third straight year little known trainers have bought horses to the Triple Crown and have shown that with the right stock they can play on the same field with the big boys.
The riding performances of Stewart Elliot last year and Jeremy Rose this year also outlines what pedestals some jockeys will put themselves on and the public follows. But wait, Jeremy Rose did something that is extremely rare in American racing. He admitted that he messed up in the Kentucky Derby on Afleet Alex. He admitted that he was the one that denied everyone a Triple Crown winner. This was a man who was replaced by one of our top jockey's but managed to get the ride back and still admitted he failed the horse. That made the Triple Crown for me. Someone who stepped up and said he thought he had done something wrong. We did not hear it from the trainers who eagerly placed their horses so they could be a part of the hoopla. We didn't hear it from the owners who had yanked away a horse from a trainer who had nurtured the animal and had tried to put the horse through a less rigorous campaign. Did we hear from other top jockeys who rode in the Kentucky Derby like young 'bug' boys with no sense of pace and misjudged how to ride a race ? Thanks Jeremy for three great rides and an honest assessment of your performance.
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Posted by: Daniel Ballard at December 6, 2005 6:03 PM