It had been 36 years since there had been a triple crown winner, and it looks like we’re going to have to keep on waiting. California Chrome, winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, failed to win the Belmont this past saturday. A crowd of about 100,000 people gathered at Belmont park. They had all hoped that they would be witnesses history that hadn’t been made in more than a quarter of a century. They were all sadly disappointed.
In pure distance figures, Chrome lost by less than two lengths from the winner. But what those who tuned in Saturday evening saw was a dead heat run for fourth. That’s how fast this sport moves. Blink and you miss it. But Tonalist didn’t, because Tonalist was the horse that stole the Triple Crown out from California Chrome’s hooves. But Chrome is not alone. He is the 12th horse to face these exact same circumstances since the last great champion seized all three races.
Steve Coburn, who owns a minority stake in the horse, lambasted the owners of some of the other horses who chose to withhold them from the Derby and the Preakness. Thereby giving the horses an unfair advantage against a tired horse who has already run two races. But Coburn is just being a bad sport. Though he had more invested in the race than those just observing, there were very few people on Saturday who didn’t want to see Chrome finish first. The owners who chose to rest their horses for the first two races were well within the rights. Steve was acting like a toddler.
Chrome had been running beautifully up until the Belmont. Despite having less than a stellar pedigree, the horse did not appear tired from the 12 races it ran in 13 months prior to Saturday’s race. But after breaking out to the no. 2 spot early on Chrome’s rider, Victor Espinoza, said he could feel that horse was not running the way he had in the first two legs of the crown. A mile and a half is a long distance to travel at a full gallop, California Chrome got tired. It’s just that simple.
Photo: ESPN
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