The Triple Crown

For those of you who aren't familiar with horseracing, the first leg of the Triple Crown is tomorrow (Saturday, May 1). With the exception of last year, which was...after all...LAST YEAR...the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday of May. It holds the distinction of being the longest-running sporting event in the United States, dating back to 1875.

My personal history with the race doesn't go back quite that far. As a horse-crazy kid, I'm sure I've watched it every year since I was born, thanks to my dad, who was a sports aficionado. But my first memory of it was 1971 when a longshot by the name of Canonero II came charging from the rear of the pack to win. 

Everyone thought it was a fluke. Until he repeated the feat to win the Preakness, which is the second leg of the Triple Crown and is run two weeks after the Derby. Not a lot of time for a horse to rest up between races. It had been 25 years since the world had seen one horse sweep all three races. I remember the excitement and expectation when three weeks later, everyone waited to see Canonero II, no longer a longshot, take on the longer distance of the Belmont Stakes, the third of the Triple Crown races.

Alas, he did not win. In fact, he finished fourth. 

Such is horseracing. 

We did finally get another Triple Crown winner two years later in the form of the mighty Secretariat. His Belmont Stakes win is the most incredible thing I'd ever seen and remains so. It still reduces me to tears, watching that beautiful animal run.  


Will there be a Triple Crown winner this year? We'll all have to wait and see, but I doubt it. What I've learned during my time working with Thoroughbreds while researching Death by Equine is how many factors play into (and against) the chances of one horse winning three grueling races within five weeks.

It makes the race captured in that video all the more impressive.


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