June 7, 2014 Embodies Racing's Attributes and Flaws
The Ogden Phipps was supposed to be Beholder vs Princess of Sylmar! I mean, Close Hatches is good and all, but what the hey! Before anyone gets their nickers in a twist……I’m joking. But seriously, who expected Close Hatches to upset both of these two Distaff titans? Yes, some did, and I give credit to them, but not many. Miss Hatches ran an amazing race. She deserves to be head of the heap, after remaining unbeaten, beating the two best mares in the division, while taking her second grade one of 2014. She ran a fine race. However, I do look forward to if she can keep the Princess at bay when the distances go to nine furlongs and beyond.
On Beholder, She is a talented filly. She deserves a ton of respect. However, she just doesn’t seem to be the unbeatable force that she is at Santa Anita, when she leaves the comfy confines of that track. Twice she has run in grade ones outside of Santa Anita, twice she’s failed. Albeit, not by much, but it would seem that her form greatly improves when she is racing at her favorite course. It should be interesting to see if she continues to try and find success on the east, or if she returns to California for continued success.
Now, to my favorite race of the day…..the Met Mile, where Palace Malice overcame post position, high weight, and traffic troubles to complete a rare double, by winning the Belmont Stakes and Met Mile. Not many horses can boast grade one wins from a mile to 12 furlongs. He, like Close Hatches, staked his claim as the head of his division yesterday, and I’m betting he keeps it with more wins that, hopefully come in the Whitney, Woodward, and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
My original thoughts haven’t changed much. I disagree with the time and place at which Steve Coburn made his arguments, and I disagree with the manner in which he made them. It wasn’t gracious and it left a bad taste in the mouths of many. That being said, I believe he made some good points. I don’t believe the connections of Tonalist and Commissioner are cowards, but I would say they are greedy. More people would rather play spoiler than see a horse win the Triple Crown, and more people are even more willing to do it, when there is a big purse on the line.
Are you going to tell me that the connections of Sham, Alydar, and Easy Goer wanted to spoil the Triple Crown just to say they did? Just to make some money? I doubt that. They were in it to prove that their horse was the best. They didn’t duck any of the races, they took their shots over and over, because they believe that their horse was best, and they wanted to prove it. I doubt any of the connections that ran their horses in the Belmont actually believed that they had the better horse. In fact, many admitted that they thought they didn’t.
I don’t agree that if a horse hasn’t run in both the Derby and Preakness, they can’t run in the Belmont. If that were the case then this year’s Belmont would have been a total of 3 horses, and where is a test in that? I do think however, that if you did not qualify for the Derby, then you shouldn’t be allowed to run in either the Preakness or Belmont. Notice I did not say if you didn’t race in the Derby. Meaning if you had the points, but for some reason, the horse was scratched you can still run back in the other two, as well as those who made the gate. Under that rule the Belmont would have ended up with a field of seven horses. Still a decent sized field with plenty of quality to it.
I want fans to stick around. I don’t want them to go away, and I don’t want to watch the sport I love die a slow death, because we feel we need to handicap our heroes into the realm of ordinary.
June 7, 2014 embodied all of racing in one day. Its beauty and its shining positives and its flaws. It’s time we embraced those flaws and learn from them, and fixed them. It’s time we stopped trying to hide them, dressing them up to make them into something they aren’t. It’s time to make a few changes, or watch this sport fall into oblivion.