No Triple Crown this year--thoughts?

In My Humble Opinion
1

War Emblem, after an atrocious (and possibly physically damaging) stumbling start, was soundly beaten: 9th, beaten 19 1/2 lengths to the longest winning longshot in the history of the Belmont. Exacta paid an astonishing $2450…and the Trifecta, a jaw-dropping-to-the-floor $25,000+.

So, for the few fello horse racing Doper fans out there…how does this leave you? In honestly, I had mixed emotions. I have never seen a Triple Crown winner–I was only 5 when Affirmed completed the last one in '78–and was aching to see one. However, I was less than thrilled at the prospect of seeing it go to Baffert and a Saudi Arabian prince who comes off as arrogant and abrasively mockish when asked anything about “What does it feel to be a Saudi in this position in America right now?” I understand his desire not to comment, but his choice of words in so doing almost made light of it.

I’m concerned that in leaving the gate, War Emblem either grabbed a quarter or even possibly damaged a knee (the replay shows the left foreleg popping out to the left side at a hyperextended angle). Considering the delicacy of his knees and ankles, I’m concerned there may be a career-ending injury.

Unfortunately, Proud Citizen’s injury did not surprise me as this was his 4th hard race in just over 6 weeks. I came to like this horse, however, and hope he will be back on track (literally) soon.

I was very pleased to see Sarava and Medaglia d’Oro win and come in a very competitive 2nd. The story on Ken McPeek, who from my understanding is a truly fine man, losing Harlan’s Holiday just a few days ago–and his wife overcoming cancer, even delivering their daughter by c-section during her treatments–adds a more “traditional” romantic story to the winning connections. And paying $142 to win with a $2 bet is nice too.

It did not surprise me that Essence of Dubai was off the board. He has shown nothing impressive to me, and I was stunned that everyone considered him a live longshot at 20-1.

Perfect Drift, running 50+ lengths behind the leaders at the finish, ran a shockingly poor race. It was not a surprise that ridiculously overmatched Artax Too (this is where they choose to run him in his first stakes?!) was eased, 76 lengths behind–but Perfect Drift seemed to contain greater talent than he displayed.

I also noted in PPs that in any race War Emblem was not either leading the pace, or immediately behind it (within a length), he finished off the board. Today’s race matches that history. Additionally, WE seems to be an all-or-nothing horse. He either wins, or he’s off the board. Consistency is not one of his traits.

So, no Triple Crown. In a weird way I’m relieved, which makes me feel a bit like a bad sport. Baffert actually seemed to get choked up talking about Point Given’s Derby loss this year, and as a very outspoken person myself, I can understand being misconstrued. But I remain both saddened and relieved at the loss.

So…there’s always next year. This has equaled the longest gap in American racing history between Triple Crown winners…but, the English went more than 30 years before seeing Nijinsky II take their Crown.

When the right horse, and the right time comes, it will happen.

I just have to wait.

2

Whoops–War Emblem finished eighth, not ninth. I even knew that as I typed it, but was already thinking of 19 defeated lengths. Stupid crossed brain wires.

3

Kinda disappointed that there is no Triple Crown winner, and I thought War Emblem really had a shot at it, until I watched the race. Ah well, my only other thought is that wow, I wish I had had even $2 on that trifecta! :wink:

tarragon

4

Oh well, what the hell.

I’m not really a horse racing fan, so it doesn’t really matter to me.

But, in the words of beleaguered Brooklyn Dodger fans of past generations:

“Wait till next year!”

I remember Secretariat.

5

Weird - Dingos ate my post.

Ruffian - Even if it’s a career-ending injury for War Emblem, I would be surprised if he wasn’t retired to stud after this race anyway.

StG

6

It was a fine race; the stretch battle really surprised me.

It hasn’t been all that long since Affirmed won it, has it? Seems like it was just a year or two ago (I saw Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed winning, but I don’t quite go back far enough for Citation).

It was a disappointing loss, but then, War Emblem ended up in better shape than Tim Tam :frowning:

7

StGermain, from what I’ve read thus far, War Emblem came out of the race okay. Of course, it’s only been a few hours since the race and sometimes injuries take a few days, if not weeks, to become apparent (i.e., John Ward thinks Monarchos cracked knee, found in July, happened on Derby day).

Also, it seems Proud Citizen just had some swelling. From the Daily Racing Form:

Sounds like a potentially happy ending there. :slight_smile:

RealityChuck, I had to do some searching to remind me what had happened to **Tim Tam{/b]:

Sounds similar to what happened with Charismatic in 1999. :frowning: Fortunately, Tim Tam lived a long life after, dying in 1982, and Charismatic is happily making little Charismatics. :slight_smile:

8

Back from the maddening (103k!) crowd.

What a day. Even though I left plenty early to get to Belmont Racetrack, I still managed to miss the first two races. I placed my only bet: a $2 win on Personable Pete in the third, who came in second. I made my way to the trackside, found a spot by the fence and stayed there for the duration of the day. It was a gorgeous day, but with both terrific racing and tragedy.

In the fourth race, there was a horrifc spill. Imadeed went head over heels at the head of the stretch, taking Pleasant County down, who was following behind. Imadeed got back up, but Pleasant County died of head injuries. The jockeys were pretty lucky to come away without any major damage. The pit in my stomach and feeling of unease did lessen with each succeeding safe race.

Then came the Belmont. Everyone came out to watch and cheer. It was exciting and I was next to the fence and I couldn’t see anything. Well, not quite true: I got photos of the horses as they came onto the track. The noise was unbelievable and you couldn’t hear the field when they came by the first time. It was very surreal and suddenly it was over. The horses ran by again, slowing down. The crowd is all abuzz because the winner is…Sarava…Sarava who?. Four guys in suits came running down the track. Oh oh, the pit in my stomach grows again. It’s Proud Citizen’s crew and they use a horse ambulance to take him off the field.

The crowd begins to leave. I still don’t know how the race ran, so I go to watch the replay. I’m really shocked that War Emblem ever got into the race after that start. I really thought we’d be celebrating a Triple Crown winner. But, oddly, I’m not as disappointed as after Charismatic’s loss. I don’t know if it’s because I couldn’t really see the race or (more likely) I didn’t have as much emotionally invested in this horse. But I thought he would do it.

Like RealityChuck, I too saw the last three winners. Well, I just heard Secretariat’s win, but I remember it like yesterday. I was in high school, and my Mom, Dad, and I went to the Fleet Museum in San Diego. We parked the car, and Dad said, “Let’s just wait a minute and listen to this race” [on the radio]. And off Secretariat went. And I still feel that chill, that thrill, at the words “He is moving like a tremendous machine!” Ohmigod. He is legend.

Maybe one of those future Charismatics will do it. :slight_smile: Or maybe…just maybe, my brother’s horse Marseilles Ballet will produce one. She’s in foal to Flying Continental (or at least we’ll find out later this week if she is). Time to dream. :smiley:

9

Gosh yes, I was also hoping for Triple Crown just because I’ve never seen a horse take it, being a little too young to appreciate Affirmed in '78. And War Emblem is one of my favorite types of horses, with a choppy and powerful style. The whole owner issue is a weird one for me – a few weeks ago, several people were discussing their distaste for the owner, and it came across as extremely ugly, thinly veiled racism. (fyi, not AT ALL the same kind of observations based on actual statements that Ruffian made in the OP) Since then, I have tried not to think about the owner at all.

The start was terrible, and then it seemed that War Emblem was so hemmed into the inside. It was exciting when he rallied and was able to break through, but even then I felt it was too early, that the push to disengage was using resources that could have been put to use in the stretch.

Gosh, the spill in the 4th race was just a pity. Just terrible. You really hate to see that at any race, and it’s always sad when it happens on a big race day. Losing a horse like that is quite rare, and I think it gives people who only tune in for the big races a distorted impression of the sport.

10

According to Lukas, Proud Citizen cracked a shin and will miss 90-120 days. He will, however, be back. :slight_smile:

brachy, I envy your attendance, although I understand that little could be seen from trackside. I do not, however, envy witnessing such a horrific spill. I’ve seen quite a few such spills on TV, but never live.

So the dream has to wait, at least one more year…