Who could forget Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes, widely regarded as the best performance by a thoroughbred ever? And that move around the first turn at Pimlico wasn’t bad, either. Simply stated, Secretariat was God’s greatest equine creation.
Seattle Slew is my personal favorite, still the only horse to have won the Triple Crown while undefeated. His greatness was even celebrated in defeat; a nose loss to Exceller in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup was arguably the gamest performance ever.
That same year produced racing’s last Triple Crown winner. But to this day you can’t mention Affirmed without completing the phrase with Alydar. The golden chestnut vs. the liver chestnut was the greatest rivalry the sport has known.
So then why was the recently concluded Triple Crown series the best I have witnessed in the modern era? Because it had everything.
And, so, the colt made history as the first Juvenile winner ever to win a Derby; his trainer Carl Nafzger won his second julep cup and punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame on Union Avenue as Calvin Borel raised the bar exceedingly high for future celebrations on horseback.
Two weeks later Street Sense got to gawking a little and lost his Triple Crown bid by a nose, snatching defeat from victory’s jaws as Curlin made one of the more dramatic stretch runs in the history of the sport. Many said that Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in 1989 had nothing on this pair. No one argued.
Then, exit Street Sense from the Belmont, enter Rags To Riches, a filly, one who gave the 139th Test of a Champion an identity that would last in perpetuity. There have been only three females to win a Belmont, and she did it by reprising Curlin’s Preakness role, as she out-stared him all the way to the finish post.
Four wide all the way around “big sandy” after a stumbling beginning, a final quarter-mile in :23 4/5 following a half-mile in :50 and three-quarters in 1:15 the cherry on top.
Are you kidding? This can only be described as magical.
Time has come for the country’s best three-year-olds to freshen up and prepare for the battles of late summer and fall, culminating with a trip to Monmouth Park on the last Saturday in October. Invasor and all the rest had better have their running shoes on.
This three-year-old class is the best racing has seen in a very long time. From a performance figure perspective, collectively they have had no peer group in recent memory, the best of them running as fast as any Grade 1 older horse can run. That’s quite a feat for a sophomore in spring.
All connections have decisions to make and they’re interesting to ponder. You would think, for instance, that this year’s Haskell would serve not so much as a prep for the Travers but rather for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The Haskell would seem like a natural return spot for Hard Spun, given the early speed Garrett Gomez wouldn’t let him show in the Belmont. Maybe now Mario Pino will get his regular mount back. Pino’s Preakness mistake--if you want to call it that; I call it circumstantial reaction--might serve him well at speed kind Monmouth Park.
Given that Street Sense is pointing for the Travers, it is more likely Nafzger will choose to prep in the Jim Dandy. That path worked for Unshaded and trainers, as stated before, are creatures of habit.
The high profile Triple Crown trail is virgin territory for Steve Asmussen but he has proven to be a good student of history. Knowing Curlin as well as he does, Asmussen probably will send him to Monmouth, thinking he’d rather meet Hard Spun than Street Sense before taking on Invasor over the same track in the fall. Curlin has Monmouth style.
And so what of the filly?
Rags To Riches currently is pointing toward the Coaching Club American Oaks. From there she could take several paths. Look for her to take a more challenging path than the Alabama, since two of the big three Derby horses are likely Monmouth bound.
There are two good reasons for Rags To Riches to run at Saratoga. Both Michael Tabor and Todd Pletcher have left the door wide open when it comes to meeting males again. In taking on Street Sense, perhaps defeating him, it would give Rags To Riches a victory over all three.
The owners and their trainer have a keen sense of history. Ruthless, the filly that won the inaugural Belmont, also won the Travers, the only female to have won both races. Now doesn’t that sound like a historical challenge worth pursuing?
If this year’s Triple Crown colts, and this special Triple Crown filly, keep doing their thing, the great Invasor had better not stub his toe. Not with this crop, the best we’ve seen in three decades.
16 Jun 2007 at 09:46 am | #
Preach -
Agree this has the potential to be a great crop.
But until they prove it against their elders, my vote for best in the the last 30 years goes to the 1987 vintage.
In the Travers that year, a Grade I winner from Chicago shipped in and was undefeated in six starts. He went off 25-1. Why? Beacause he was up againt Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance, Polish Navy, Gulch (and his entrymate Gorky for trivia fans), Temperate Sil and the winner, Rokeby Stables’ Java Gold trained by Mack Miller.
Lost Code, who I believe won the Haskell that year, was also part of this incredible three-year-old embarrasment of riches..
16 Jun 2007 at 11:36 am | #
Me thinks that 1984’s (1987’s 3 yr olds), Alysheba, Bet Twice, Lost Code, Java Gold, Gulch, Polish Navy, Cryptoclearance, Personal Ensign and Very Subtle outrank the four stars of the 2007 Triple Crown. And, just last year the performances of Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby, Bernardini in the Preakness and Travers as well as Discreet Cat’s limited but sensational performances were at least as good as any of the four horses we saw perform so well this year.
Of course, there is much of the current season to run and there is hope that the current crop has an opportunity to reach the level of Alysheba’s group. . .Yet, with the breeding interests so heavily involved, it is only marginally possible that we will see them perform more often than last year’s high class divisional leaders.
16 Jun 2007 at 12:01 pm | #
“This three-year-old class is the best racing has seen in a very long time. From a performance figure perspective, collectively they have had no peer group in recent memory, the best of them running as fast as any Grade 1 older horse can run. That’s quite a feat for a sophomore in spring.”
This has been, in fact, collectively the worst group of 3yo’s since the early 1990s at the very least.
How could you print such idiocy!!! You need only look at the speed figures earned in Derby preps to get it correct!
16 Jun 2007 at 02:20 pm | #
Mr. Brain Dead,
Chide not on my scribe friend Mr. Pricci. He has a point here. As an “outsider” I feel this crop of 3yo’s is the best that can be assembled. Medications are rendering the breed frail and hense, very lightly raced. It gets worse with the passage of time. Eventually I shall not buy breeding right stock in the US and be forced to look elsewhere.
All should work together to erradicate “race day” medications and be serious to impose heavy sanctions on those who do.
Sheikh Mo
17 Jun 2007 at 01:03 am | #
Mister Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, sir, and others:
He has no point whatsoever !!!
His thinking is entirely backward. He seems to be impressed by close finishes when in reality it is more typically the runaway efforts which are indicative of true quality in a race or a yearly crop.
I dare anyone to look at the year-by-year speed figures earned in the major derby preps and give this poor crop of 2007 sophomores any credit at all.
For had this been even an average crop, no filly would have had a prayer of topping males in The Belmont Stakes.
And as for you, Mr. Maktoum, sir, it would be most appreciated if you would start winning some races so that I might restore my confidence about the chance that a seasoned race tracker might have a better chance than either the most random individual or an insider stable hand at Al Quoz, in your yearly “Seven Stars” contest.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter, SIR!
18 Jun 2007 at 12:49 pm | #
Wow, must have been a worthwhile subject. Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply!
Anyway, Mssrs. Cary and Steve, in the lead up to the Derby, I both wrote and commented often in other media that this group had the potential to be mentioned in the same breath specifically with the 1987 3-year-olds that included Derby starters Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance and a good horse but better sire, Capote.
Of course, later that year, the ranks of that quartet swelled in summer and fall. I have much respect for the foals of 1984 and points made that three-year-olds must face their elders for true historical context are well made. But I’m sure you’ll agree that so far, so good.
As for my brain dead stupidity, it’s true. But I’m just happy to have survived the 60s and admit there might have been some collateral damage suffered.
Perhaps, however, you should get your head out of the trade papers and invest in performance figures that I use on a regular basis, those of Equiform and Thoro-Graph. I prefer Equiform due to its more comprehensive approach (pace). Thus far, it’s been working pretty well. [See Feature Race Analysis] on this site.
Sheikh Mo, a special thanks always for your loyal support. I so much appreciate you taking the time out from your current negotiations to buy the New York Yankees from Mr. Steinbrenner. I do hope, however, you’ll have enough equity from your other endeavors to buy this website when it reaches the lofty standards you set and for which you have become world renown. Well, in Lexington, anyway.
As for your thoughts Chider, please see “brain dead” above. But to all, performance figures improve with age and development. Even if this crop’s figures were sub-par pre-May’s first Saturday--except Street Sense, of course, whose Equiform figure for winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at CD last fall could have won a slowly run Derby--they stepped it up big time in the classics (haven’t seen Belmont figure). Street Sense and Curlin are now a couple of lengths behind Invasor and with continued maturity and development, could be his equal this fall. That’s fun to ponder, I think you’ll agree.
Meanwhile, I wish you continued success in your dealings with Sheikh Mo and all the best in the next Seven Stars contest!