Can California Chrome win the Triple Crown?

Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
Could this finally be the year?

And could this wannabe savior of horse racing be the most unlikeliest of prospects having been bred in California and stabled at a quarter horse track?

In three weeks we’ll know if California Chrome will be the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., California Chrome became the 13th horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness since Affirmed ascended racing’s highest platform.
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Read more:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-139th-preakness-stakes-2014-20140517-story.html
 
 
Triple Crown winners...

1919 Sir Barton

1930 Gallant Fox

1935 Omaha

1937 War Admiral

1941 Whirlaway

1943 Count Fleet

1946 Assault

1948 Citation

--- (25 years) ---

1973 Secretariat

1977 Seattle Slew

1978 Affirmed

--- (36 years so far...) ---

:>---
 
I enjoy horse racing and all, but I don't really understand how a horse winning the Triple Crown is supposed to "save horse racing". What exactly will that do for the sport?
 
I dont think so because back in the day after a horse won the Kentucky Derby, the field for the Preakness and Belmont would shrink and just turn into be smaller rematches with the same horses. Now a days horses that don't compete in the Kentucky Derby are entering fresh into the Preakness and/or only the Belmont. It's a lot harder for that same horse to compete at that same level against other horses that arn't competing for the triple crown. This is why there hasnt been a triple crown in almost 40 years.


But that fact that Secretariat still holds the record for all three triple crown events is impressive. He was truely a special horse and will go down in history as one of the greatest horses along with Man O War and Bucephalus.
 
The greatness of Man O' War can be measured in the fact that we call the defeat of a heavy favorite an upset...as in Upset, the only horse to ever beat Man O' War.
 
Daddy said:
The greatness of Man O' War can be measured in the fact that we call the defeat of a heavy favorite an upset...as in Upset, the only horse to ever beat Man O' War.
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Urban myth; upset was used to describe an unexpected victory as early as 1804
 
I can understand the owner's frustration, but the Belmont Stakes exists for itself, not merely to be the third leg of the Triple Crown. It is crazy to suggest that they limit their field to horses that ran in the first two legs of the TC.

I actually heard a radio moron carrying on today that the situation of California Chrome losing to a horse that did not run the KD and Preakness was like a team in pro sports skipping the early playoff rounds and winning the championship. Idiot.
 


The Belmont Stakes back in the day was extremely different for Secretariat than what California Chrome had to face.
 
Sure. Secretariat was the prohibitive favorite. The breadth of the field that California Chrome had to face speaks to the sport's opinion of his chances at a mile and a half, hype notwithstanding.
 
The owner does have a point. But, that's the way it's been done for almost a hundred years.
Playing devil's advocate, find the 10-12 or whatever best horses, run them in the triple crown races and see who wins. Everybody is equal. Personally, I would have liked to see him win.
 
While Coburn's rant was pretty entertaining, and watching the stuffed shirts get all rattled over it was even moreso...anyone who's watched more than 15 minutes of horse racing pretty much knew that CC didn't have the juice to do 1.5 miles.
 
It is interesting to note that the win place and show horses in the Belmont, along with Wicked Strong, did not run all three races. There was a good article about this in the Enquirer prior to the race. They not only mentioned the fresh horse situation but they also mentioned that horses are bred different today. In the past, durability was the main focus where today the breeding of thoroughbreds is more focused on speed. I'm not sure we'll ever see another triple crown winner unless they change the rules or format but if we do I don't think we'll see bunches of them like in the 1940s and 1970s.
 
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