When William Nack visited 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1973:
His groom reached over and patted the Count on the neck. “There has always been a living Triple Crown winner,” the groom said. “Ever since Sir Barton won. You could always go visit one, like you’re visiting this horse today.”
The groom asked me if I knew Secretariat’s people. “I saw the horse and his groom, Ed Sweat, just this morning,” I told him.
“Next time you see him, you tell him that there has always been a Triple Crown winner alive and he better win it this year or that string will be broken,” he said. “I don’t think this old horse is gonna make it to the end of the year.”
Next morning, I told Ed Sweat that story of Count Fleet. He whistled softly. “That horse is still alive?” Eddie said. “Don’t you worry. We got it covered.”
There are no living Triple Crown winners now. Affirmed died in 2001, Seattle Slew in 2002. Whoever wins the title next will be starting a new string.
Posted by JC in Racing on 06/05/2014 @ 9:00 pm / Tagged Racing History, Triple Crown / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Dick Jerardi:
If we were not all spooked by so many near misses and locks that were not locks, this Belmont would be about as complicated as this Derby and this Preakness. One horse stood out in both races on form. That horse, California Chrome, ran right to his form. Why, really, should the Belmont be different?
Just as a fan, I hope he’s right.
California Chrome drew post #2 for the Belmont Stakes. He’ll face 10 others:
KYD/PRK = finish position in the Kentucky Derby and/or Preakness.
Posted by JC in Racing on 06/04/2014 @ 1:57 pm / Tagged Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown / Follow @railbird on Twitter
When Birdstone passed Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes:
“There were 120,000 people there that day, and I bet 119,000 of them were rooting for Smarty Jones,†[jockey Edgar] Prado said. “It was very loud, a lot of noise going down the stretch. I could hear everything, people screaming, but as I got closer and closer, and then when I went by Smarty Jones, it was totally silent. It was this strange feeling, this weird feeling, and I could tell the difference that one horse was making in people’s lives.â€
What a lovely way to express how it feels to be a spoiler.
Posted by JC in Racing on 06/03/2014 @ 7:10 am / Tagged Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown / Follow @railbird on Twitter
