It’s the beauty of the stride, the flexing of the muscles, the rarity of the trifecta. The Triple Crown is in jeopardy again, Adam Crawford is hoping it’s taken down.
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Beneath the Surface is peeling back the layers of this onion we call sports.
As a kid, I remember riding in the van to baseball tournaments in Lexington, Kentucky. We’d drive down the Bluegrass Parkway and the flat farmland would slowly creep into the rolling hills of central Kentucky. Simply a gateway to the Appalachians of Eastern Kentucky. I was fascinated by the giant homes set off the highway, each one outlined with what seemed like the perfect oak boards fencing in a paradise for the world’s most elegant athletes.
It was horse money. That which built those homes. I can’t say I’m jealous, because I wouldn’t know what it’s like to ride horses on the weekend or to have a yard requiring a full-size John Deere to cut the grass. It’s hard to be jealous of something you can’t even imagine.
My experience with horse racing up to that point had been limited to the trips my stepdad would let my stepbrother and I tag along on when I was little. We’d sit at the table with him while he sipped his rum and coke, handicapping telecast races across the country. We’d sit and watch as the horses raced around the track, trying to figure out how anyone could bet on them and win. It wasn’t until I went to college at the University of Kentucky, that I truly began to understand the appeal to the sport.
Keeneland is a historic race track in Lexington. It’s old and classy. Almost to the point of making folks like me feel unworthy of entering the gate, but then the racing season starts. Frat guys and Sorority girls line the grounds from the early morning hours in their pastel colored dresses and top sider shoes. It’s the classiest party of the year. And while that was fun for me the first couple of times, I quickly learned the best part about it was watching the horses come in on the paddock. Watching the trainers brush and rub the horses. It was like they were lathering up a gladiator for his most epic battle ever, and I guess they were.
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In that stage of my life horse racing took on a new meaning to me. It’s not about the money, it’s not even about the pride, it’s about the challenge of taking a horse who would rather run wild and free and training him to be a specimen of pure grace and power. Those who can do such a thing, are rare, Bob Baffert is one of them.
There is only one trainer alive who knows what it’s like to take a horse and train it to win the Triple Crown, Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew the years leading up to the victory in all three legs. In 1977 Seattle Slew took the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes to become only 10th (at the time) Triple Crown winner. (Affirmed in the following year would go on to be the 11th.)
This year Bob Baffert will have his shot at completing the feat horse racing enthusiasts have waited 37 years to see since 1978, Billy Turner thinks it can be done. In an ESPN article Turner talked about how the best horse doesn’t always win the Belmont, and that last year’s California Chrome was the best horse in the race, but just didn’t get it done.
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The first Kentucky Derby I remember growing up was 1999, my Mom went to the race. Before she left she asked me who I wanted her to put money on for me in the race, I looked at the program she had and pointed to a horse named Charismatic. I don’t remember the odds, but he was a bit of a long shot. She told me she’d put $2 on him to win, and she did. As I tuned into my first Derby I tried to pick out Charismatic’s number, but for some reason I couldn’t find him. Just as the race was over I realized he’d won the race. It was a surreal moment for me because I’d just won my first ever bet and guessed the right Derby horse. The bet only paid out $11, but that’s because my Mom only placed the bet to “show” and not to “win”.
Charismatic won the Preakness but fell short at the Belmont, like so many have in the past four decades. I don’t know what makes me think American Pharaoh can win the Triple Crown, or even why I care, but for some reason I do, on both accounts.
I think, as sports fans, we like to see history made. I know I did when McGwire broke Roger Maris’ record in ’97, and I now I did when Jordon won his sixth title in as many tries. It’s just something about seeing history made that makes fans happy.
I think it’s time we saw a Triple Crown winner.
It’s been long enough.
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Photo: Flickr/Chris