What a Triple Crown Winner Would Mean to Me.

What would a Triple Crown winner mean to me?  It’s really hard to say because I have never had the experience it before.  34 years is a long time, and given that I am only 28, I can only listen to my parents talk about horse racing in the glorious 70’s.  War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, and Big Brown are the most recent in my memory, but in all honesty, I didn’t really follow horse racing during their attempts.  I just remember being in college and hearing their names on Sportscenter between baseball highlights and thinking winning the Kentucky Derby/Preakness double was not only routine, but also rather easy.

Well of course that has all changed.  Now that I have become engrained into the world of thoroughbred racing, I look back on my naivety and laugh.  I understand that it is something that is so rare, that it should be cherished and celebrated as if it is the last time it will ever happen.  However, I truly believe that it will happen again, be it this year, or next year, or in another 34 years.  I am confident because I believe God is a horse racing fan.  If he weren’t then Secretariat would have never existed. Now I am not a spiritual person, but I do believe that when the sport’s time is due, it is something we will all know as more than just a binary “yes or no.”

The anticipation for another like Secretariat, Seattle Slew, or Affirmed is what we all hope for.  Maybe this will be the year…?  Maybe next, or the one after that.  If we truly felt satisfied and fulfilled with the accomplishment of previous triple crowns, then we would dismiss it and move on to the next challenge.  That’s just human nature.  But we don’t move on.  We’re not satisfied.  We keep watching, year after year, hoping for the next form of greatness. 

I am a die-hard fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Redskins, who have not won a championship since 1988 and 1991, respectively.  I have grown accustomed to the phrase “well, there’s always next year.”  But this does not apply to winning a horse racing Triple Crown.  The World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Championship, and Stanley Cup all have something in common that is different.  Someone wins them every year.  They are routine.  Although my team may not win, there are fans in the sport that get to rejoice with feelings of joy and euphoria that their team is the best.

So, what does a triple crown mean to me?  It will be my first experience of something immortal.  It will be my own personal reference for which all future feats of greatness are judged.  It will be an everlasting memory of something that I will associate with the pinnacle of the extraordinary.