As you all know by now, California Chrome did not win the Belmont Stakes this past Saturday, failing to become horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner wince 1978. Chrome had looked like a great bet to end the streak after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but came up short in the third and final – and longest – leg of the Triple Crown chase. Tonalist – who did not race in either the Derby or the Preakness – certainly had a rest advantage over Chrome and some other horses, and that prompted Chrome’s owner, Steve Coburn, to go on a bit of a rant following Saturday’s big race.
“This is the coward’s way out,” Coburn said shortly after the race. “If you can’t get the points to run in the Kentucky Derby, then you [shouldn’t be allowed] to run in the other two races. It’s all or nothing. It’s all or nothing. This is the coward’s way out, in my opinion.”
I completely understand from where Coburn is coming. He has a point. The Derby winner almost always races the Preakness two weeks afterward and, if they win both, they will obviously look to complete the Triple Crown by running the Belmont in three weeks. It is a very stiff challenge for a horse to race that many times in a five-week span. It is made even more difficult when that horse has to race against well-rested horses, especially when the total number of entries reaches double-digits.
“It says Triple Crown. You nominate your horse for the Triple Crown. That means three,” Coburn said in the track-side interview with ESPN on Sunday. “Even the Triple Crown trophy has three points on it. So when you earn enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, those 20 horses that start in the Kentucky Derby should be the only 20 allowed to run in the Preakness and the Belmont for the Triple Crown.”
Had he stopped there, Coburn would not have to issue an apology for what he said next.
“These people nominate their horses for the Triple Crown and then they hold out two [races] and then come back and run one,” Coburn told ESPN. “That would be like me at 6-2 playing basketball with a kid in a wheelchair. They haven’t done anything with their horses in the Triple Crown. There were three horses in this race that ran in the first two — California Chrome, Ride on Curlin and General a Rod — none of the other horses did. You figure out. You ask yourself, ‘Would it be fair if I played basketball with a child in a wheel chair?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings about children in wheelchairs,” Coburn told FOXSports.com, “because that’s not who I am.” He later came up with a less offensive analogy, comparing the situation to Victor Espinoza, our jockey, playing basketball against Wilt Chamberlain. You know who’s going to get more dunks.”
Okay. That’s a little better.
The bottom line is that Coburn has a valid complaint. It is not fair. Then again, most things in life are not. Many people view a guy who bought a horse for $10,000 and went on to make millions off of him as unfair. Regardless, things will likely not change.
“If it had been one of the owners of Ride on Curlin or General A Rod,” Coburn told FOXSports.com, “I’d have been the first to congratulate them, because they’re playing the game. They’re going all the way.”
Chrome finished in fourth place, while General A Rod finished in seventh and Ride on Curlin came in last. All three horses were likely tired after running twice in three weeks. Tonalist and others were rested, and it clearly played a part in the final outcome at the Belmont.
Either way, depending on what side of the fence you fall on in regard to this argument, the Triple Crown format will likely not change. If it did, it would take away from past champions who were able to win all three races over the course of five weeks. Billy Turner, the trainer of Seattle Slew and the last living trainer of the Triple Crown club, said that, “You can change it, but you’ll have to call it something else.”
California Chrome did not win the Triple Crown in 2014. No horse has since 1978. As a 34-year-old, I have never seen a horse win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes all in one year. That means that I have never seen a Triple Crown winner. I am starting to think that I never will.
Now, whether you agree or disagree with Coburn, or whether or not you feel that the format should change, one thing is for certain. Chrome did not win the Triple Crown, but we cannot blame Tonalist. We cannot blame the Triple Crown format. We can simply look back to the previous Triple Crown winners and salute what they were able to accomplish.
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