Great, But Not A Legend
Today marked the 140th running of The Belmont Stakes and the final leg of the Triple Crown. In 140 years of horse racing there has only been 11 Triple Crown winners which is why if you followed my post from yesterday, you know that I didn’t pick Big Brown to win, I picked another horse Casino Drive.
To understand why I didn’t pick Big Brown to win one has to first understand the quest for the Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown is comprised of three races, The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont Stakes. Only three year olds are allowed to run any of these three races which means that in a horse’s life they only have one opportunity to win.
Added to which when a horse runs a race they typically need a month to recover before they can race again. But in the quest for the Triple Crown there is two weeks in between the derby and the Preakness and then three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. So a horse like Big Brown that is seeking to win all three races never gets a sufficient chance to rest which is extremely important considering that the same horses don’t always run in all three races. So when Big Brown raced in the Preakness 80% of the field was well rested. And by the time Big Brown raced today in The Belmont, he was the only horse to have raced in both races.
Added to which these aren’t short races. The Belmont is a mile and a half long, none of the horses have ever competed at this distance.
So today, when Big Brown fell to the back of the pack it was because he was tired, a little hurt, and was competing against a group of horses the were for the most part, rested and ready.
It is the very reason why the Triple Crown is the hardest and most sought after achievement in the horse racing world.
