Comments on: E-mailbag: Changing the Triple Crown http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2008/06/10/e-mailbag-changing-the-triple-crown/ Kentucky sports and beyond. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:26:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Al http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2008/06/10/e-mailbag-changing-the-triple-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-404 Al Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:12:29 +0000 http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2008/06/10/e-mailbag-changing-the-triple-crown/#comment-404 The Triple Crown should not be changed. I think it is one of the toughets things to accomplish in all of sports. Just something hasn't happened for 30 years doesn't mean it should be changed. I think his foot problem was a factor because he may not have been able to train as he did for the Derby and Preakness. Like others, I feel like he wasn't used to breaking in 1 spot and that the heat was a factor. Horses are intelligent animals. If something doesn't feel right, they're not going to do what you want. I think Desormeaux did the right thing by easing him. He didn't want something to happen. I heard last night that Dutrow has placed the blame on Desormeaux and they have not spoken since the race. Typical Sports blame game. Always have to find someone to blame. That is the sad thing that comes out of all this and sports in general. ESPN does it and many others do it. Thought I'd never hear it in horse racing though. How can someone be blamed for something that no one is even sure why it happened in the first place? The Triple Crown should not be changed. I think it is one of the toughets things to accomplish in all of sports. Just something hasn’t happened for 30 years doesn’t mean it should be changed. I think his foot problem was a factor because he may not have been able to train as he did for the Derby and Preakness. Like others, I feel like he wasn’t used to breaking in 1 spot and that the heat was a factor. Horses are intelligent animals. If something doesn’t feel right, they’re not going to do what you want. I think Desormeaux did the right thing by easing him. He didn’t want something to happen. I heard last night that Dutrow has placed the blame on Desormeaux and they have not spoken since the race. Typical Sports blame game. Always have to find someone to blame. That is the sad thing that comes out of all this and sports in general. ESPN does it and many others do it. Thought I’d never hear it in horse racing though. How can someone be blamed for something that no one is even sure why it happened in the first place?

]]> By: Ralph http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2008/06/10/e-mailbag-changing-the-triple-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-403 Ralph Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:55:02 +0000 http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2008/06/10/e-mailbag-changing-the-triple-crown/#comment-403 Changing the triple crown requirements is ridiculous. It's a cop-out. It's because people, like William Nack as quoted in your article, are "tired of waiting". Boo hoo. People remember that there were three crown winners in the 1970's. They remember it as something pretty easy to do, but they forget that it was TWENTY FIVE YEARS between Secretariat and Citation. They also forget the incredible close calls since then such as Real Quiet losing on a head bob, or Silver Charm getting run down in the stretch, proving that the feat isn't as otherworldly difficult as imagined. It's just been awhile, and my guess is that the people clamoring for change now are a lot like that people that were clamoring for change in June of 1972; impatient. With all that being said, Big Brown just seemed to have too much going against him. He didn't train as he should have. He had a bad foot. Came out of the one-spot for the first time, had mud kicked at him for the first time. The heat. Longest race of his short career. Add all that to Desormeaux's mishandling(stopping and starting, going the full 1 1/2 five wide) and Big Brown was doomed. Of course, with the way he was handled during the race, the cheating history of Dutrow and the sleaze oozing from his owner combined with a 40-to-1 shot winning, it's not out of the realm of possibility that this race was fixed. Changing the triple crown requirements is ridiculous. It’s a cop-out. It’s because people, like William Nack as quoted in your article, are “tired of waiting”. Boo hoo.

People remember that there were three crown winners in the 1970′s. They remember it as something pretty easy to do, but they forget that it was TWENTY FIVE YEARS between Secretariat and Citation. They also forget the incredible close calls since then such as Real Quiet losing on a head bob, or Silver Charm getting run down in the stretch, proving that the feat isn’t as otherworldly difficult as imagined. It’s just been awhile, and my guess is that the people clamoring for change now are a lot like that people that were clamoring for change in June of 1972; impatient.

With all that being said, Big Brown just seemed to have too much going against him. He didn’t train as he should have. He had a bad foot. Came out of the one-spot for the first time, had mud kicked at him for the first time. The heat. Longest race of his short career. Add all that to Desormeaux’s mishandling(stopping and starting, going the full 1 1/2 five wide) and Big Brown was doomed.
Of course, with the way he was handled during the race, the cheating history of Dutrow and the sleaze oozing from his owner combined with a 40-to-1 shot winning, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this race was fixed.

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