The Third Leg Of The Triple Crown Can Be A Great Memorable Race Or One That Is Quickly Forgotten

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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I think what makes a great Belmont are the same scenarios that make any big race great, and they are mainly:

The horse wins by a large margin, showing his dominance, and inspiring awe among the crowd, such as when Secretariat dominated by 31 lengths in 1973, or when Point Given won by over 12 lengths in the 2001 Belmont and taking his place at the top of the three year old ranks.

The finish is a battle down the stretch in which one prevails by a very narrow margin. Affirmed and Alydar battled in 1978 with a Triple Crown for Affirmed on the line, they battled head to head for a full quarter of a mile, and for 25 seconds it was not clear who was going to win. It was a continual see saw back and forth, and it was the suspense of the moment that made the race.

The “battle of the sexes” element is always intriguing in any big race, and we were also treated to such a duel with Rags to Riches and Curlin in 2007. That was a great race, because not only for it’s “girl power” vs. the boys element, but was it a head to head hard fought battle between two great horses. Also a filly had not won the ...
... Belmont in over 100 years.
Secretariat’s 1973 Belmont win was great not only because we saw a deserving Triple Crown winner but because he not only fulfilled, but exceeded expectations. Most thought he would win, but little did they imagine that they would witness the single greatest performance by a thoroughbred in the 20th century.

When a Triple Crown is on the line and a horse comes and threatens that hope, there is always that combination of drama and also a letdown. It is especially dramatic when it is not clear if the Triple Crown hopeful is going to get there or not. In 1998, Victory Gallop came from out of the clouds to nail what seemed to be a certain Triple Crown win for Real Quiet. The latter had a 3 length lead in mid stretch but Victory Gallop kept charging and it was unclear whether he would get there in time.
Unfortunately for those who felt Real Quiet was worthy, Victory Gallop spoiled those hopes. Touch Gold did the same to Silver Charm the previous year in 1997, nailing Silver Charm in the last few strides.

Certainly it would have been more exciting it Charismatic and Real Quiet had been the ones to nail the leader to go on to win the crown, but it is always exciting when a horse comes from behind and runs down the leader. Besides, not everyone believed Real Quiet and even the talented Silver Charm belonged in quite the same breath as Affirmed, Seattle Slew, and Citation.

Rivalries always make for good races, such as Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, the afore-mentioned Affirmed and Alydar, and even Secretariat and Sham. Unfortunately, horses often don’t race often enough to form that compelling rivalry. Free House and Silver Charm had that rivalry going, having faced each other three or four times prior to their Belmont meeting, each time finishing very close to each other. I suppose you could say Animal Kingdom and Shackleford have a rivalry going, but it’s a pretty weak one if you ask me. If Shackleford had finished runner up in the Derby, then we might have something going, but he got fourth in that race.

The least exciting races are when some unknown long shot comes out of nowhere and takes the race, causing everyone to look down at their program and ask, “Who was that?” When 70-1 Sarava came out of nowhere to take the lead at the head of the stretch in 2002, it was kind of hard to root for him because he was so overlooked. It was kind of like when Mine That Bird won the 2009 Kentucky Derby, many were not even aware that the horse was in the race.

In 2008, Da Tara was also pretty anticlimactic because for one thing, Big Brown stopped suddenly at the top of the stretch, which took all the excitement out of the race, but Da Tara, like Sarava, was not on anyone’s radar, didn’t come up in any pre race discussions, and had a lot of people wondering who just won the race.

Even without a rivalry, a Triple Crown on the line or a battle of the sexes, there is still the potential for a great race this Saturday. A great stretch duel can always develop, or we might have a really tight finish at the wire with the outcome not known until just a second before the wire.