No Triple Crown Winner this Year

I admit it, I was excited about the possibility of Big Brown becoming the 12th horse to ever win the US Triple Crown. He didn't. I don't blame the horse, the jockey, or the trainer. I am sorry that the US racing industry did not get the big boost it needed by having a winner - but the possibility of it helped pay a great many folks' expenses. Why is winning the Triple Crown so difficult to accomplish? Only eleven horses have done so in the past 100 years: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), and Affirmed (1978).

These races are set over a period of 5 weeks; the Derby, in Kentucky, at a mile and one-quarter; two weeks later, the Preakness, in Maryland, at a mile and three-sixteenths; and 3 weeks following the Preakness, the Belmont, in New York, at the distance of one mile and a half. This is something that today's racing Thoroughbreds are not bred to do. During the past 100 years, 21 other horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, but have been unable to win the Belmont Stakes. They were very good horses, too. They were: Burgoo King in 1932 and Bold Venture in 1934 (both of whom did not even try the Belmont), Pensive in 1944, Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Northern Dancer in 1964, Kauai King in 1966, Fortward Pass in 1968 (he won the Derby by disqualification, so he will always be remembered with an asterisk), Majestic Prince in 1969, Cannonero II in 1971, Spectacular Bid in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, Charismatic in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones in 2004, and Big Brown in 2008.

Most of the general public does not realize that horses are not fully mature until they are 5 to 8 years old - depending upon the breed. Thoroughbred racing, as it is today, asks extremely young and immature horses perform at the apex of their ability when they are equivalent to human children of the ages 5 to 12. Today the emphasis is on speed, speed, and more speed. Today's two-year-olds in training would have been looked at in horror by the people involved in horse racing in the early and mid-1600s. Then horses didn't start racing until they were 4 or 5 years old, and then they ran anywhere from 2 to 5 mile races in heats. The top finishers competed against one another until one had finished first in at least two heats - all on the same day. Today's horses are not bred for endurance.

I saw Secretariat win the Triple Crown races in 1973. I was awe-struck. He was the most impressive horse I had ever seen. I started talking to my parents about how great he was, and they both told me that if I wanted to find out about a true super-horse, I needed to know about Man o War. Man o War raced in 1920 and 1921 - my Mother was born his last racing year - but she had seen him in the flesh and heard Will Harbut's speech about him while he was standing at stud. After devouring all the information I could find on Man o War, I decided that he was my pick of number one race horse. (Secretariat is a very strong second.) Today's juveniles, or two year olds, race carrying very light weights. Usually the heaviest weight a horse carries in it's life is the mandated 126 pounds in the Triple Crown races (123 pounds for the fillies) - unless the horse is a real trooper and gets better with age, becoming a great handicap horse, like Kelso, Forego and John Henry.
Man o War made his first racing start on June 6, 1919. It was a maiden race, for horses who hadn't won a race before, and it was 5 furlongs (5/8ths of a mile). He won it by 6 lengths. Three days later, he ran in the Keene Memorial Stakes, and won. Two weeks after his first race, he started in his third, the Youthful Stakes, which he also won. Two days after his win in the Youthful, he carried 130 pounds in the Hudson Stakes, which he won going away. The rest is history - Man o War ran 21 races in two years, and won 20 of them. He finished second to a horse named Upset by a half-length when he was boxed in on the rail and had to be pulled up twice before he could get racing room. As a two-year-old, Man o War carried 130 pounds in 6 races; as a three-year-old, he carried a high weight of 138 pounds. He set 5 World Records as a three-year-old, ranging at distances from 1 mile to a mile and 5/8ths.

Most of today's racing Thoroughbreds could not do what Man o War did. They couldn't compete with Secretariat, either. Man o War did not run in the Kentucky Derby in 1921; his owner, Samuel Riddle, did not believe in that it was in the horse's best interest to run it a mile and a quarter in early May. Man o War did run in and win the Preakness and the Belmont (by 20 lengths) - but he didn't have the opportunity to try to be a Triple Crown Champion. (Samuel Riddle later changed his mind and ran War Admiral, a son of Man o War, in the 1937 Triple Crown - and won. Seabiscuit, a notable handicap racer, was a grandson of Man o War.)

All good things must come to an end ..... When Man o War was retired from the race track (at the end of 1921) and sent to stud, he was assigned Will Harbut as his groom. Will and Man o War had an "understanding" between them and were almost inseparable. Will Harbut was the man responsible for the phrase: "he was the mostest hoss." In October of 1946, Mr. Harbut had a stroke and became paralyzed on one side - after he was released from the hospital, he made daily visits to Big Red, even though another groom now had his position. Will passed away suddenly in October 1947. Man o War passed away on November 1st of that same year. They were a team.