The Triple Crown

By Lew Freedman

It is the season of hopes and dreams in the thoroughbred racing world, the Kentucky Derby just concluded, the Preakness on the horizon and the Belmont Stakes beckoning.

Spring is the most glorious time in horse racing when the spectacle is at its most lavish and most thrilling. With a Derby winner crowned, in impressive fashion, too, it is possible to imagine Big Brown on the cusp of greatness before the 3-year-old rippling-muscled animal takes another step on a track.

Horse racing longs for another Triple Crown winner, a horse that will wear the laurels of the sport proudly, a horse that will create a tsunami of positive publicity as the public gets pulled along on the quest and then fawns over a champion for the ages.

Before the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday in May, when the crowd of 20 fine, four-legged athletes burst from the starting gate at Churchill Downs for the 134th Derby, we were watching a pack of unknowns.

During the most exciting two minutes in sports, we watched 20 long-striding horses sort themselves out as if they were battling through a line of succession to a throne. Which in a way, they were.

And when Big Brown crossed the finish line 4 ¾ lengths in front of the ill-fated filly Eight Belles, we had a new king. From “one of the many” to “the best in the bunch” in a single lap, Big Brown transformed from role of favorite to the role of history-maker.

The century-plus longevity of the Triple Crown races nurtures their popularity and enhances their credibility. There have been only 11 horses that managed to conquer the turf in the three defining races in the same year and none has pulled off the feat since Affirmed in 1978. If we have learned anything in the last 30 years it is that winning all three is harder than we ever thought.

We may have been spoiled by the 1970s, with Secretariat, perhaps the greatest racehorse of them all, Seattle Slew and Affirmed all capturing the Triple Crown. Maybe we slighted the achievement because it had become common. Hah.

Each May when a new Derby champ is crowned accolades gush forth. But scarcely has the horse stopped sweating before someone asks, “can he win all three?” Many have come close over the last three decades, but none have succeeded. Yet while Big Brown has only gained title to stage one, there seems to be more belief that this is the one who will go all the way.

Comparatively inexperienced with only four races on his resume, Big Brown’s big strides have powered him away from all competition, sometimes by 12 lengths. Big Brown won the Derby going away after falling behind, passing most of the field, and running extra wide for extra strides.

It was a shame that Eight Belles collapsed and was put down at the end of the race.   A small percentage of horses will break down on the grand stage of the Triple Crown and at small, out of the way tracks, regardless of how well cared for they are. Improvements in their well-being may be in the works, but right now, this week and this spring, the eyes of the racing public are on Big Brown.

Optimistic, but disappointed so many times in recent years, horse people long to laud a fresh Triple Crown super horse. Soon enough, we will learn if Big Brown belongs with the all-time greats, or if he was another big tease.

(Lew Freedman is a Chicago-based sportswriter and sports book author).