A Mile And A Half From Greatness

Secretariat did it with a dominating flare. Seattle Slew did it with a shy curiosity. Affirmed did it with a rival on his hind leg. In such a small window of time the sport saw horse after horse prove to be Super. From 1973 through 1978 three of horse racing’s most prized gems galvanized the sport, giving it a Golden Era many thought would last forever. In the thirty years since Affirmed and Alydar foreshadowed Magic and Bird, the blatant reality of the task has become obvious to all. Winning the Triple Crown isn’t an annual rite of passage reserved for the best three-year-old on the planet, it’s a rite of passage reserved only for the best horses of all-time.

As always the latest pursuit of the three-peat brings us to Belmont Park and the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes. Since Affirmed, ten other horses have gotten to this point, winning in Kentucky and Baltimore. Ten other horses captured our imaginations. Ten other horses forced people to flock to Belmont in record numbers, to avoid missing a piece of history. Ten other horses were the odds-on favorite to win the Triple Crown, and ten other horses failed. The names probably still ring a bell: Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones. They all have one thing in common - their pursuit of horse racing’s greatest prize ended on the same mile and a half race track in Elmont, NY.

Once again a horse won the Kentucky Derby only to follow that up by winning the Preakness. Once again people are flocking to Belmont Park to avoid missing history in the making, as once again a horse is the odds-on favorite to win the Triple Crown.

Like always, experts seem to think this horse is different. That he’s too good to fall victim to the pitfalls of those before him. They point to the fact that he didn’t just win the Derby and the Preakness; he dominated the Derby and the Preakness. They’ll tell anybody willing to listen about his perfect 5-0 record with split times that rival the greatest of all-time. They yearn like the rest of us, not just for a great horse, but for a Super horse. One that can return the sport to the glory days of its past and produce another moment showcasing why this is the Sport of Kings.

Thirty-one horses have gotten to this point and only 11 have survived. It’s been thirty years and again we stand only two and half minutes away from adding a twelfth name to that list. The most difficult test in Thoroughbred racing remains and will again be the difference between defining great from Super. Will we be witness to history? Will the end of one of the most exclusive lists in sports be altered to read "Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Big Brown?" In a mile and a half, we'll find out.