Hastings Handicapper

Brian McGregor-Foxcroft

 

Belmont Special: Impeachment, The Real Triple Crown Winner

 

10/ 06/ 00 – Vancouver: The year 2000 Triple Crown is over. Overall it was a non-event, which started to fade out right after The Kentucky Derby, when only a few of that field showed up for The Preakness Stakes. Locally, Hastings Park noticed a sharp decline in handle on the second event. People just didn’t have any enthusiasm for The Triple Crown, when the prospect for an overall winner sunk with Fusaichi Pegasus in The Preakness. And the question being asked by everybody over the past few weeks is, will we ever see another Triple Crown winner? And if not, why not? If you were to talk to Andrew Beyer, you would hear him reflect the view being uttered by many people in the thoroughbred industry. That view is that we are no longer breeding endurance horses. Stamina has been sacrificed for speed.

 

There is some discussion now about spreading the three events out, with three weeks between each race, because horses are unable to maintain their condition to perform well within the current intervals. This has prompted a growing debate about the fitness of present day horses. Tied into this is the whole question about the use of Lasix, and it’s effect on the current condition of thoroughbreds in North America. Many feel that because it is now so easy to compensate for faults in racehorses, through the use of Lasix and other drugs, etc., that horses who shouldn’t be running, are able to continue running, and pass their faults along to the next generation in the breeding shed. The result is that more horses are breaking down younger, or they require longer layoffs between starts.

 

This brings us to toady’s running of the $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes. At the wire it was the D. Wayne Lukas trained Commendable, with Pat Day in the irons, who swept by the field with a big outside run just before the final turn, paying $39.60/ $12.80/ $6.30 (Belmont odds). Aptitude, ridden by Alex Solis, made an inside dash down the stretch, but couldn’t catch the leader. Unshaded and Wheelaway got up for third and fourth respectively. The exacta paid $213.00, and the trifecta paid $1,310.00. Impeachment, who came third in both previous races, got caught in a front running duel from the gate with Hugh Hefner, and tired, falling back to fifth.

 

What this means is, that if we’re looking for a clear Triple Crown horse this year, it’s Impeachment. He is the only horse who showed up for all three events. He may not have been the fastest horse to grace these events, but he was the toughest. And it says a lot about Todd Pletcher’s ability to pick and train contenders. One other thing is clear right now, we must have a new respect for a horse like Charismatic, who came within a heartbeat of winning The Triple Crown, before breaking down in The Belmont. In fact, it was a kind of poetic justice for Bob and Beverly Lewis, who own both Charismatic and Commendable, today’s winner.

 

So what is the answer to a racing event which is in danger of being eclipsed by bigger events like The Breeder’s Cup Classic, and by the absence of a horse capable of winning a Triple Crown? I can assure you that this is a question over which American racing authorities are knocking their heads. Maybe one of my racing pals and I have the answer. Only last week Chris Taylor, a work colleague, and I were discussing this very problem. What we came up with was the notion that all horses who enter The Kentucky Derby should be committed to both The Preakness and The Belmont. The top ten finishers of The Derby would go on to The Preakness, and the top seven or eight survivors there would pass on to The Belmont. There would be no excuses, in for all or none. And no fresh horses dropping in from the clouds half way through. This may be the only way we can expect to see another Triple Crown winner. Something will have to be done, if the integrity of this racing event is to be maintained. The fact of the matter is, there are so many big ticket horse racing events in North America, and elsewhere, right now, that an event like The Triple Crown has to be able to promise more than it gave this year. And, the much larger issue, that of North American breeding practices, must be reviewed, with an eye to stamina over speed, if the overall quality of North American racing fields is to be maintained.

 

As already mentioned, these are questions being asked by more proficient people than myself. But the solution may be awhile in coming. The fact that there exists a “heightened awareness” about this problem, is a beginning.

 

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