The final leg of the Triple Crown of American horse racing, the Belmont Stakes, was run at Belmont Park in Elmore New York, a suburb of New York City. It’s held on the third Saturday after the Preakness and is second only to the Kentucky Derby in both attendance and betting action. The winner this year of the Belmont Stakes was Palace Malice a definite long shot at 13-1 odds, although the jockey was Mike Smith — one of the really highly regarded riders in the US.
Once again there were three different winners in the three racers. The first race is the Kentucky Derby, which is run on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in our sister city to the south, Louisville. Orb, who came into the 2013 series as the odds-on favorite came through with a victory in the Kentucky Derby, but at 2-1 odds. So while he was a safe bet, he didn’t bring the long shot money in. His jockey was the highly regarded Joel Rosario and as in every year after the Derby there was much media speculation about the possibility that Orb was the next great 3-year-old race horse and a had a very strong chance to be the next Triple Crown winner. Someone forgot to tell Oxbow, however.
The second leg of the Triple Crown is the Preakness Stakes, run at Pimlico Park Race Course in Baltimore on the third Saturday in May. Oxbow came to the race with the legendary Gary Stevens as his rider. Race morning saw Oxbow listed at 10 to 1 odds. All the wagering action was on Orb, whom most everyone thought was headed to a second victory. Out of the gate, however, Stephens put Oxbow in the lead and was never seriously challenged. He won by 1 and a quarter lengths and paid off at 15 to 1. Orb finished out of the money in fourth. So there would be no Triple Crown champ.
With Palace Malice taking the Belmont and Oxbow placing second to Orb’s third, that put Oxbow at the top of the points board for 2013 3-year-olds and dropping Orb to second. This apparently has a lot to do with the fees the owners will be able to charge for….ah…you know, stud service
I have never placed a bet on a race horse in my life, and other than watching the Triple Crown (mostly as a courtesy to our Louisville cousins) I really know very little about the Sport of Kings. I had an uncle who on occasion made a modest bet on a horse race. His system was to go by the jockey. He said that the really great jockeys never picked a dud horse, and could be counted for a third place finish or a show.
The last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978. The year before, 1977, Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown. The first Triple Crown series winner was Sir Barton in 1919. The series was not referred to as the Triple Crown until 1923. Charles Hatton a writer and odds maker for the Daily Racing Form officially coined the term for the races in 1931. A Triple Crown Trophy was devised in 1950; however, it wasn’t presented until 1973, when the immortal Secretariat won the three races for the first time in a quarter of a century. Actually, there have been only 11 winners of the Triple Crown since the series began in 1875. Eddie Arcaro, who many experts consider to be the greatest jockey who ever lived, rode two horses to Triple Crown victories: Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948. Secretariat, the 1973 winner is considered the greatest race horse to be sired in the United States, as well as one of America’s greatest athletes, and yes, a horse can certainly be considered an athlete.
Horse racing, along with boxing, were the first two sports to receive national newspaper coverage, mostly likely because of the gambling involved. Indiana has also been a center of interest in horse racing and it has grown into a popular spectator sport in the Hoosier state. So a hat’s off to our four legged athletes and the thrills and excitement they give us.
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