On June 9th at Belmont Park, the elusive and coveted Triple Crown will be on the line. The racing world will be collectively holding their breathe in agonizing anticipation to see if history will be made before their very eyes. Even those who do not normally follow horse racing will be waiting to see if Justify will add his name to the exalted ranks of the twelve Triple Crown winners that stand united in racing lore.
Many people seem convinced that the highly talented son of Scat Daddy will join the list of champions who were able to claim the roses, Black-eyed Susans, and carnations as their own. Maybe the blazed colt will pull it off, and maybe he won't. But one thing that is important to remember as we move in to the imposing, final test of the Triple Crown is that if Justify fails to complete the series, it will be okay, and will actually be quite normal.
There was once a time when the Triple Crown had become so evasive that people believed that the feat had become downright impossible. Rumors of making the series easier began to part the lips of those involved in the sport. Suggestions of spacing the three races farther apart began to surface, as some believed that the modern thoroughbred was incapable of winning three demanding races in the span of only five weeks. Yet, others argued that the series should not be changed. If the eleven horses that had won the Crown before could pull off the daunting task, then it wouldn't seem right if the next Triple Crown winner got added to the list with the help of an easier time frame.
But then, just in time, came a horse that would silence all who doubted that the Triple Crown could still be won. A short-tailed bay with a misspelled name came storming into the limelight in 2015, and proved to the world that the modern thoroughbred could equal what the eleven legends of the past had done. That horse was American Pharoah, and he took down the three testing races, in the traditional course of five, short weeks. When the lionhearted steed romped over the wire in the Belmont Stakes to Larry Collmus's jubilant declaration of, "American Pharoah is finally the one!!!!!", he put an end to the debate over whether or not the series needed to be changed. He proved to all who witnessed that after 37 dragging years, the Triple Crown can still be won.
However, it's just not meant to be won very often.
If you look at the list of horses who failed to win the Triple Crown, you will quickly realize that it is a list filled with highly accomplished and esteemed runners, many of which remain legends of the sport to this very day. When you take into account the fierce champions who fell victim to the Crown in the Belmont Stakes, and then look at the short list of only 12 who have ever done it, it becomes blatantly clear that it is a rare feat that is simply not meant to be captured by just anyone. It takes a different kind of thoroughbred, one that isn’t born in every crop. The truth is, the Triple Crown is not meant to be won on a regular basis. If it was, it wouldn’t hold the unprecedented value that sets it apart from all other sporting events.
A glimpse into the past of some of those who failed to sweep the three races stands as a testament to the fact that the Triple Crown isn’t meant to be won by just any horse. And one of the greatest failures of all time came in the wake of Affirmed's sublime reign over the series, at a time when the Triple Crown appeared easy.
He was called, “the greatest horse to ever look through a bridle”, by his trainer, ‘Buddy’ Delp. He was the Champion Two-Year-Old of 1978, the Champion Three-Year-Old of 1979, the Champion Older Male and Horse of the Year in 1980, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982. He took down 26 of his 30 races, equaling or breaking records in 8 of those starts, and collecting earnings of $2,781,608 throughout his career. That horse was, Spectacular Bid. He was one of the most accomplished and decorated thoroughbreds of all time, and yet, he too fell victim to the Triple Crown.
Spectacular Bid mercilessly dominated his rivals in the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and looked poised to add the Belmont Stakes to his name in breathtaking fashion. It didn’t appear as if there was a foe that could look the iron gray steed in the eye, and match strides with him. It looked as if the colt would execute a flawless run in the final leg of the Triple Crown, and once again run his foes off their feet in what would be an effortless walkover. But on the morning of the Belmont Stakes, Spectacular Bid met a rival that would be his match.
However, that rival did not come in the form of another horse. Instead, it came in the form of a safety pin.
The crowd at Belmont Park watched in shock and confusion as the horse who was once untouchable, faded to third in the stretch. Spectacular Bid’s Triple Crown hopes were dashed in the grueling, mile-and-a-half event, as he fell victim to what his trainer said was an injury from a safety pin. According to Delp, Spectacular Bid stepped on a safety pin that had fallen off of his leg wrap prior to the race. The pin went straight into his hoof and triggered an infection. The odds of such an ill-timed affliction are almost inconceivable, and yet the minuscule pin remains a key part of history and lore as the culprit that ended a champion’s bid at the Crown, and triggered the beginning of a historical drought that raged for nearly four decades.
How great was Spectacular Bid? Delp proclaimed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, “Of the horses I’m familiar with, only Citation and Secretariat would have run with the ‘Bid’.”
When his racing career came to an end, Spectacular Bid was syndicated for a staggering $22 million, which was a record at the time. So, if a $22 million horse couldn’t win the Triple Crown, what kind of horse did it take?
Spectacular Bid wasn’t the only champion to have his heart broken at the hands of the Triple Crown. Twelve fearless horses took aim at the prize after his failure in 1979, only to run right into a wall of despair in the final, testing challenge of the series. Horses that appeared unbeatable came up empty and defeated. For some, the Belmont Stakes was their first and only defeat. Some Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners were left hopelessly defeated in the stretch, while others came painfully close to immortality, only to be denied at the very end.
Over the years, we have seen champion after champion denied of glory in the final leg of the Triple Crown. In 1997, we experienced the gut-wrenching irony of a horse named, Touch Gold deny a horse named Silver Charm, the crown in the final strides of the race. And one year later, we watched Kentucky Derby and Preakness hero, Real Quiet storm over the grounds of Belmont Park, sprinting toward the wire with a clear lead. And in that same moment, we saw a horse named Victory Gallop, come flying out of the clouds to nail Real Quiet in the shadow of the wire. The Triple Crown was lost by the mere bob of a nostril, forcing a horse who had run a winning race, stand in history as second best.
In 2004, the world watched in agony as Smarty Jones gave in to exhaustion and defeat for the very first time in his career, and finish second in a race that desperately needed him to win. Four years later, we watched the hulking and unbeaten beast named, Big Brown, romp in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, only to be pulled up in the Belmont Stakes without explanation. And four years after that, we watched in shock as I’ll Have Another was scratched from the Belmont Stakes on the eve of the race. A bout of tendinitis ended the colt’s chance at the Triple Crown, as well as his career. For whatever reason, the Triple Crown was denying horse after horse, waiting for the perfect moment to be claimed. The unique and unpredictable timing of a Triple Crown win is something that we may never understand, but that is the beauty of it.
The fact is, it takes a rare and extraordinary horse to win the Triple Crown. Horses worthy of the prize do not come along very often, and that is why history has only seen 12 horses march to glory in the coveted event. Failing to achieve Triple Crown immortality is not an insult to those who came up short in the final stage of the challenge. In fact, they are the normal ones. The 12 horses that did win it are the rare freaks of nature, that went against all the odds, rebelled against history, and were somehow graced with a mysterious, extra quality that few will ever know.
The Triple Crown has seen Assault deliver an exhibition of flawless flight in all three races, despite running with a deformed hoof in every race. It saw the legendary Secretariat charge ruthlessly down the stretch of Belmont Park, taking the race by 31 stunning lengths lengths. It saw Seattle Slew maintain an unbeaten record in his domination of the series, as he added his name to history. From Affirmed valiantly fending off the daunting challenge of Alydar in all three races, to American Pharoah daringly taking down the curse that plagued the Triple Crown for nearly four decades, the Triple Crown has only ever graced those who stood apart from the rest in terms of stamina, determination, and above all, heart. All 12 of the Triple Crown winners proved their worth in ways that most could never imagine, and that is the type of animal that it will take to do the impossible.
The Triple Crown is not a normal feat, and is not supposed to be won. It is a prize that will elude most, and that is simply how it’s meant to be. On June 9th, it's possible that Justify will find that extra quality hidden within, and join the prestigious list of those who did the impossible. Or maybe we will see him will fall victim to the Belmont Stakes, just as most horses would. Perhaps he will prove just as mortal as Real Quiet, and Smarty Jones, and Big Brown, and the countless other horses before him. Or maybe he will rise to victory and achieve what few have ever been worthy of. We won’t know until the race is run, but what we do know is that if Justify fails to take the Crown, he will lose nothing in defeat. He will stand as yet another honest horse with a world of potential, that simply fell victim to a prize that does not want to be captured. But if he does pull this off, he will stand as only the 13th horse in the history of the "Sport of Kings" who had what it took to defy the odds and laugh in the face of history, and all logic.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Down2TheWire_
Comments