[earful]

i'm not a gambler or a fan of horse racing, but i would love to see smarty jones win, and i'm wondering why that is. what is it about this situation and human nature that makes it matter to people? there's another thread in "outside" about the election in november, and despite war, terrorism, the economy, etc., being at stake, the triple crown is of more interest to me right now. leaving aside the possibility that i'm just too shallow for the great issues of the day, any thoughts on why smarty jones and the triple crown matter?

 

[AGR]

I suppose, more than anything, it's about History.

 

[Canman]

For people in the Philly area its all about local pride. It's all over the local news all the time.

 

[plainsong]

It's because it's such a tough thing for a young horse to do. A 1-1/2 mile race is probably the longest they will have in their life, and they have to do it at the end of a grueling schedule that started with the Derby. That and there's the factor of how good a ride they get, how well they've been prepared, and of course luck. These factors combined have denied all but 11 horses the Triple Crown, and there have been some great ones that couldn't do it. So it's the truly great that can.

There's so much corruption in racing. I got out of following it when Secretariat and Alydar were killed of neglect just to collect the insurance money, but if just one horse could manage to pull it off, I could die a happy person.

 

[RickG]

It's because it's such a difficult feat (exactly, plainsong)...(Smarty just lost the race). It's a gorgeous thing to watch. These beautiful animals competing.

It never happens...

I'm gonna be 50 in a few months, and in my lifetime, I've seen it happen three times:

1978 Affirmed Steve Cauthen Laz Barrera
1977 Seattle Slew Jean Cruguet Billy Turner
1973 Secretariat Ron Turcotte Lucien Laurin

It's just a once in a lifetime thing...

Three times is a miracle!

 

[plainsong]

Yeah, if it were for racing veterans, like 4 year olds and up (still babies in the rest of the Equine world!), you'd see more winners probably - like a Cigar or an Alysheba (who I think could have won it and just got a bad ride that day).

And I sometimes wonder, since I did train horses, but not race horses, is it also the pattern? Two weeks between the Derby and Preakness, and then three weeks until Belmont.. would we see more winners if it were an even two weeks? I don't know, but if you think a horse can't see a pattern you'd be wrong. And the varying distances also throws the routine off. It makes for a tough mix.

And that 1-1/2 mile distance is killer for the thoroughbred. My horse and I would occassionally do a 50 mile endurance race, but this kind of short-distance flat racing is a totally different thing.

I just hope that people don't give up on ole Smarty. He's still the same horse, and he seems like a real character and will hopefully have a long and happy carreer. I just hope that the fate of so many race horses doesn't happen to him too.

 

[earful]

well i watched the race and all the televised hype leading up to it (haven't done it before). i was truly disappointed that he lost. but the almost apology by the winning jockey alleviated that somewhat: his performance was almost as uplifting as a win by smarty would have been. interesting.

 

[spaceman]

I don't really care because I'm not a horse racing fan, but it would be nice to see him win because he has such a cool name.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceman I don't really care because I'm not a horse racing fan, but it would be nice to see him win because he has such a cool name.

I think it's too late. Now it would be nice if they didn't off him after extracting some sperm.

 

[strohmie]

As can be seen from the bottom of my profile I'm one of the more avid horse racing fans here. And unfortunately I haven't seen a horse win the triple crown in my lifetime, and thought it was possible today. But Smarty has the same problem as many recent runners -- not enough distance breeding, plus the strain and drain of three tough races.

Whether this is a good or bad thing, horse racing brings to us a distraction from our everyday lives and the issues we face individually and as a nation. Seabiscuit was a beacon of hope in the years leading to WWII, while Secretariat galloped into immortality soon after America withdrew from combat the Vietnam War. Now, we have myriad issues in the middle east amidst threads of terror attacks on our soil, and a powerful little chestnut colt who was one length from immortality.

Smarty Jones couldn't have come at a better time, and here's to hoping he'll bring further victories in the months to come even though he was unsuccessful today.

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 I think it's too late. Now it would be nice if they didn't off him after extracting some sperm.

A sad but true fact of the rather corrupt world of horse racing. Even Secretariat and Alydar couldn't avoid that fate. If they couldn't, what chance does any other horse have?