HORSE BETTING

• Will a Horse Ever Win the Triple Crown Again?

  Posted on Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT by GetChalk

  
  

  For over 30 years there have been no horses able to capture all three jewels of the Triple Crown. Not since Affirmed did it in 1978 have we seen a horse bred to handle everything that the Triple Crown can throw at a contender. In 90 years of racing there have been only 11 horses that were able to pull it off. Somehow there were three horses that won in the seventies; Secretariat did it in ’73 and Seattle Slew in ’77. Before Secretariat dominated all three races, horse racing went through another drought almost as long as the current one; they had waited 25 years since Citation won the crown in 1948.

  But today it’s less likely to see a Triple Crown winner than it would have been in the past. The difference today is that breeders are more interested in breeding for speed than stamina, and by the time the Belmont rolls around the horse that looked so good in the first two jewels of the Triple Crown doesn’t have enough left to take on the mile and a half at Belmont against horses than were bred for distance. History shows 45 horses who have won the first two, only to fall short against the horses that are bred to run in longer races. And we don’t have to look back any further than Big Brown’s run at it last year. That’s why the Triple Crown is so hard to win; it has to be a special horse that is beyond anything else that year.

  It’s not like the breeders are not interested in breeding horses that can run three races in five weeks and then complete a mile and a half, it’s that horses bred for stamina don’t get paid stud fees as high as the speed horses. Breeders look ahead to the lucrative breeding portion of a horse’s career and try to provide what the market is demanding. Ironically the industry seems to moving away from producing the very thing that could vault it back to its former glory.

  Some experts in the industry want the Belmont to be shortened back to a mile and an eighth so we could see Triple Crown champions more often. This could boost the sport and get more public interest in horse racing again. But to do this would only further deplete the stamina of future thoroughbreds. Stamina could get bred right out of the industry, and the average racing career for thoroughbreds would only be a little over a year. Then we wouldn’t see amazing horses like Curlin win horse of the year for two years in a row.

  Distance horses may not command a high price at auction these days, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t contributed to the Triple Crown winner’s circles. If you look at this year’s crop of top three-year-olds, Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Mine That Bird was sired by Belmont winner Birdstone. Another Belmont winner Empire Maker sired Kentucky Derby runner-up and Santa Anita Derby winner Pioneerof the Nile. This year’s Belmont Stakes likely second favorite at post time will be Charitable Man, who was sired by Belmont winner Lemon Drop Kid. And Belmont runner-up Medaglia d’Oro is the sire of Preakness and Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra.

  In 1972 many horse racing probably fans felt like we do today. They must have believed that it wasn’t possible for a horse to win the Triple Crown in their current era; then along came Secretariat and turned things upside down. A breeder will eventually breed a horse that’s above and beyond any other for that year and we will finally get to watch a Triple Crown champion dominate the media coverage for awhile. A horse that can dominate on any track against any field, and one that won’t be too tired to run the longest race that they will have to run in their career. All we can do is wait; maybe it will be next year.