http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/tri...-coburn-continues-rant-vs-triple-crown-system lol I actually think it's hilarious and it IS lame if a horse doesn't run 'at least' one of the first two legs of the Triple Crown before running in the Belmont, that part of it does need to be changed at the very least but unfortunately all anyone's going to hear is the wheelchair analogy which is really flawed to put it mildly.
The Belmont Stakes, The Preakness and the Kentucky Derby are 3 different races that came about at different times. The Triple Crown was put together later and incorporated the 3 races into it but each of the races stands on their own. It is an elusive trophy because of the different distances and that is why many horses do not run in all 3, it has been like this throughout the history of the races. Coburn is just a crotchety old man who wanted something to bitch about.
It was a mess at the track. Too crowded, drink lines and food lines were WAY TOO LONG. It also took forever to exit the damn place, never going back. (ok maybe not never).
OH Man, I was close!!!! I picked an exacta (box) with 8-1 instead of 11-8. That would've paid out A LOT more than the $348, and I bet 20 bucks! I'd be one happy man today. Shit. I liked the 8 horse because he was the only horse trained for the mile and a 1/2 track. and I liked the 1 horse because the 1 spot has been very favorable at belmont in recent years. So close!!! I shoulda just picked either them W/P/S, or picked an exacta with them on top of a few of the favorites like the 11, but I went all out on my 8-1 pick. The belmont is great for betting because upsets can pull it out easier. I wanted to see a triple crown, especially since CC was a cool story. I feel bad for them but I disagree with the owner. It's tough to win a TC and it's almost bullshit how its all done, but that's part of what makes the TC such a challenge.
I think that Coburn could have made his case much better although changing the Triple Crown requirements would be a disservice to the great horses that have won it in the past. Seattle Slew/Secretariat/Affirmed all had to win against outstanding competition and no exceptions should be made now just to accommodate CC. BTW, they really didn't have to allow CC to wear his nose openers so Coburn should think about that before whining to the press next time.
The jockey took the horse to the outside, behind at least three horses. He asked the horse to gain the ground it lost moving to the outside and sprint to the wire. The horse had nothing left. He should have stayed inside and looked for a hole to split between. I think this lost bid for a triple crown goes mostly on the Jockey and partly on a great horse that just had nothing left.
the owner has no case it'd be like hitters in baseball complaining that specialist relievers are brought in to face them, so it's too hard to get a long hitting streak. Three different races, the field is never the same, and each race is different. That's why so many horses won the first two and failed in the third (since the last Triple Crown, I believe it's happened 13 times). Longer race, different course, etc. If I owned a horse and felt the horse could not win in the Derby or Preakness, but could win the Belmont if I trained the horse just for the Belmont, then that's what I'd do. What happened this year wasn't any different from Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, Empire Maker, Real Quiet, etc. They also had to face different fields.
And it wasn't like CC was running away from the field at either the Derby or the Preakness, in fact CC was being challenged down the final stretch with challengers closing on him so the longer distance of the Belmont was possibly going to take its toll anyway aside from the fact that he just didn't seem to have it on Saturday imho.
He apologized today, though. I don't think the court of public opinion should hold his rant against him - even though most, including myself disagree with his rant. He was just upset in the moment for not being able to get it done. We've all been there. will we ever see a triple crown winner again is the big question....
Yes we will. It's only a matter of time. I'd guess within the next 15 years. In the days of Triple Crown winners, they also had to face different fields. I don't think there's anything that's changed that makes it so much more unlikely.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-belmont-stakes-notes-20140608-story.html ^well, this explains a lot too. The horse probably should have been scratched from the race anyway.
This. A thousand times, this. That was an embarrassment for NYRA. Never again. Every line was 50-plus people deep. And the food lines weren't just long, by the 9th race they also had no friggin food. The line for the ladies' room was 45 minutes - I keep tabs on such things . I went with my fiance and she was sharp enough to find the trailers in the picnic area with no line, but if I were a chick I'd have used the men's room - and many did. As for betting, the Belmont is such a horrible goddamn race to bet. I bet Samraat and boxed him a couple times, almost at random, only because he's a stakes winner with a month off, hasn't been widely shipped, and he's always rated well. The Belmont is a race for rested horses who rate well. Shows how smart I am. I really was just playing around. I kick myself because I really wanted to bet Tonalist, because his last race was at Belmont in the Peter Pan and he finished so strong. But he ran that race nearly wire-to-wire and I figured the extra track would kill him off. Again - a genius horseplayer at work. My real bet was buying 25 two-dollar tickets for Californian Chrome to win, figuring a Belmont Park ticket with a winning triple crown bet would have more value to a collector than I'd ever get at the window. The real lesson here is that everything south of Oregon and west of Arizona should just drop off into the fucking ocean and go away forever. We cleared out after the Stakes but then turned around and stayed for the last two races thinking the traffic would be thinned out by the time we were ready to go. Took until 11:30 to drive out the gate. Got home around 4:00 am. Totally disgusted. The only redeeming part of the whole weekend was staying in the city Friday night. I don't need a stinking horse race to do that.
A couple of my buddies had what looked to be "VIP" passes, so they had their own food lines, drink lines, and betting lines. They have got to sort this out for future races. Kentucky Derby, way better IMO.
sorry for your experience sundayjack -I actually know a lot of people that went to the Belmont this year too, and their stories weren't much different than yours. everyone hated it. It must've been a disaster. I've been to the preakness a couple times and they were awesome experiences. I've never tried the kentucky derby but I guess I'm going to try that now for sure instead of belmont.
That's just it, we don't need to water down the rules because a good horse isn't a great horse. It'd be like in the NFL the Patriots still claiming they went undefeated despite losing the most important game of the season.
