Triple Crown Disappointment Just A Small Part of the Season

If you've been in racing long enough, you know things can change quickly in this industry. In only a month, the hero can fall into the trap of being forgotten about and an unknown horse can turn into the next hot thing.

In January, Hansen and Union Rags were the big three-year-olds to watch and over the last five weeks, very few words have been uttered about either until yesterday's Belmont.

I'll Have Another seemed to burst on the national scene in the G1 Santa Anita Derby when he beat Creative Cause by a nose (however, the colt won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February before that win) and captured even more attention when winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown. 

The racing gods determined that another Triple Crown winner was not to be this year when the Flower Alley son was scratched from the Belmont and retired due to a tendon issue, sending a sober atmosphere over the running of the last leg of racing's biggest challenge.

However, in the big picture of this year, this isn't something to dwell on for a long time. There is another hero waiting to pop up around every barn door.

For example, Hansen and Union Rags look to continue to build their stories as they prepare for the rest of the season. And with the Triple Crown Trail over, it looks as though the flashy pair will get a chance to shine in two different divisions and allow fans to cheer for both.

You also have the Zayat pair of Bodemeister and Paynter. They not only led their trainer, jockey, and owner to Triple Crown history by finishing second in all three Triple Crown races, they look to be developing into top contenders for the big races in the coming months.

Going through all the talented three-year-olds that look to make the second half of the year exciting would take 5,000 words in itself so instead, I'll also mention the strong older horse and mare & filly divisions. You have the multitude of colts that came back after a three-year-old season last year, the mighty Get Stormy and his foes on the turf, the awesome group of three-year-old fillies and once again, a strong group of older mares to keep us on our toes.

I'll Have Another's scratch in the Belmont will go down in history as a major disappointment but in a year that still has a long way to go, other horses look to try and make up for the racing gods' cruel joke. It won't be easy and we will look back fondly on the run "Cookie" gave us all. 

But for hardcore racing fans, the rest of the year looks pretty bright and exciting. Not only are the horses mentioned above returning for another six months of racing, two-year-olds looks to make their debuts soon as well, if they haven't already. And who knows, the next Triple Crown winner may be training for a start in just a few days.

Racing may have suffered a disappointment this weekend, but like every other year the sport will rebound. And with so many amazing animals still racing, it's time to focus on the future and not what could have been. We owe that to those animals still on the track.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bargain Sire: Tale of the Cat

Image
Tale of the Cat in 2014 A Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs and Grade 1 placed at nine furlongs, Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) was more than useful as a racehorse. His successful racing career turned out to be a foreshadowing of his stud career when he joined the stallion ranks in 1999, retiring to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky for $25,000.  By a top sire in Storm Cat and from a strong female family that includes champion Johannesburg (Hennessy) (out of Tale of the Cat’s half-sister) and Pulpit (A.P. Indy), Tale of the Cat has constantly ranked in the top 30 on the General Sires list since graduating from the crop-specific lists (where he was ranked in the top five on the first, second and third crop sires lists). While never a leading General Sire, Tale of the Cat is more often than not seen in the top 15 with his best ranking on that list being a seventh. The stallion has also done well enough with his 2-year-olds to lead the Two-Year-Old Sires list in 2003 and to rank second o
Read more

The Impact of El Prado

Image
When El Prado (Sadler’s Wells) was imported to the United States after being purchased from Coolmore by Frank Stronach in the early 1990s, very few breeders were willing to give El Prado a shot.  "No one wanted a son of Sadler’s Wells in America,” Dermot Carty, who bought the horse for Stronach, told Blood-Horse when the stallion died. “Everyone saw him as just a grass horse, but now he’s a broodmare sire, a sire of sires, and he’s made history. It was a gamble … to buy a son of Sadler’s Wells was a major move, but it paid off." But over 20 years later, El Prado has made a major impact on the breed in North America. El Prado started his breeding career at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky for Stronach, who didn’t have a stallion operation at the time. Within a few years, Stronach’s opened up Adena Springs stallion facility and El Prado became one of the cornerstones of the operation.   Video courtesy of Thoroughbred Horses in Kentucky "He put us on the map,&q
Read more

New Stallion: Honor Code

Image
Honor Code One of the best-bred stallions to retire to stud anywhere in the world in 2016, Honor Code made A.P. Indy’s (Seattle Slew) final crop a truly memorable one.  Racing for the partnership of Lane’s End Racing and Dell Ridge Farm, Honor Code made his debut at Saratoga in late August of his 2-year-old year. Racing from what would become his customary back-of-the-pack position, he made easy work of the field when winning by 4 ½ lengths for trainer Shug McGaughey with John Velazquez aboard.  Honor Code earned a Grade 1 placing in his second start finishing only a neck behind Havana (Dunkirk) in the Grade 1 Foxwoods Champagne Stakes with Javier Castellano, who would be come his regular jockey, aboard . The Grade 2 Remsen really showed Honor Code’s mettle when the colt went head-to-head with Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile) in the stretch, who passed him at one point . Honor Code battl ed back to win by a nose to put both horses in Kentucky Derby conversations. But McGa
Read more