"And down the stretch they come!" Twenty horses, all competing for one big win. The first leg of the Triple Crown, the Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby. It's the fastest and yet the longest two minutes ever. People gathered all around in their big hats, drinking their Mint Juleps, throwing money around like it's nothing, filled with excitement. Screaming and yelling as two horses break from the crowd. Only one can win. Only one can wear the garland of roses.
Excitement. That's what horse racing is all about. That's what drags people in. Since 1919, only eleven horses have been able to snatch the Triple Crown. Three races. Three states. In just five weeks. Five weeks of pure exhilaration, nerves, and intense preparation. These race horses are unlike any other kind of animal. They have fire inside them. They are born to run. They feel the thrill that races through the hearts, just like the thousand of onlookers. They laugh in the face of danger.
It doesn’t matter what race day it is. It could be Derby day, the Preakness, the Belmont, the Breeder’s Cup, Aqueduct, or Saratoga, thousands of people put up thousands of dollars on the horse they believe will win. The riskier crowd may play a trifecta or superfecta, hoping to win millions. No matter what amount of money or what kind of bet these people make, there’s one thing that invites them to do so, excitement. Owners and trainers don’t buy breeding shares just because they can. They become wrapped up in the excitement surrounding the horse, surrounding the race. A smart bettor looks for two things - speed and stamina, the inexplicable gift that only few horses obtain. It’s this magical combination that makes it possible for a horse to win the Triple Crown. Fifteen horses have won both the Derby and the Preakness with their speed but lacked the stamina to win the Belmont, the longest of the three races at twelve furlongs, or a mile and a half. Time and time again, many favored horses have fallen even in the first race. In the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Pioneer of the Nile was the favored horse with odds of four to one. But, with Calvin Borel on his back, Mine that Bird, a horse with odds of thirty to one, zoomed by Pioneer of the Nile on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs to win the Derby by over six lengths, one of the largest margins of victory ever. A myriad of factors play into race day and the performance of the race horse. The different settings, lengths, and climates of the races add to the thrill making anything possible.
Danger adds excitement to any situation. And elements of danger are present all over horse racing. Sadly, sometimes danger prevails, taking the life of a horse or injuring a jockey. These horses want to win, just like their jockeys. They know how far they can go, yet their will to win can overtake them and their jockey, pushing them to the limit. A horse euthanized after a race, a jockey severely injured. In the 2008 running of the Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles, a filly, ran her heart out, finishing second to Big Brown. She raced so hard that she immediately collapsed after the race and was euthanized for two broken ankles. 1978, Ron Turcotte, a jockey most famous for winning the Triple Crown atop Secretariat in 1973, fell off of his horse, Flag of Leyte Gulf, during the Belmont Stakes, fracturing his spine. He was never able to race again and still today rides in a wheel chair. It’s unfortunate that these things happen, though they don’t happen often. Yet, it’s weird that the possibility of these things adds thrill, like the possibility of being caught when doing something wrong, or the possibility of failing when trying to achieve a goal. It stirs something up inside people. It makes it impossible to turn their eyes away.
It is with the heart of a champion these horses and jockeys race. Without the ambition and the will to win, a horse could never succeed. There’s a fire in their eyes that burns during each and every race. They are determined, they are excited. They take their nervous energy and throw it into each and every stride. The horse that races with purpose is the horse that is the most exciting to watch. He does not give up, no matter what. That’s what the people yearn to see. People like to see determination and competition.
Five horses competed in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, the “Run for the Carnations,” the final leg of the Triple Crown. Two broke away from the crowd very early on, Sham and Secretariat, who had already snatched the Derby and the Preakness. Sham pushed Secretariat right out of the gate. The two ran at a pace no one thought was possible. Sham began to fade at the six furlong mark, leaving Secretariat to dart ahead quickly. One length. Three. Three and a half. Blowing Sham out of the water. “Secretariat is widening now, he is moving like atremendous machine!” Announcer Chic Anderson roared, sending thrills down the viewers’ spines. Secretariat by twelve, fourteen, eighteen, twenty two. He races with the heart of a champion. Twenty six. Twenty eight. The people are wild, in frenzied excitement, yelling, cheering, chanting. Thirty one lengths. A record that no other horse has ever come close to touching. The 1973 Belmont Stakes is one of the most exciting races in history. Secretariat was the definition of an ambitious, determined, and just plain phenomenal horse. Its horses like Secretariat, War Admiral, Seabiscuit, Affirmed, and Bold Ruler that add to the enthusiasm that goes hand in hand with horse racing. That enthusiasm that makes people want to watch.
The parading of the horses, the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home,” or “Maryland, my Maryland,” the sound of the trumpet, the garland of roses or carnations, the drinks, the food, throwing life savings into the pot of exhilaration, hoping to win millions, the two week long Kentucky Derby Festival, traditions that have been carried on for over a hundred years all construct the hype that is the foundation of thoroughbred horse racing. These are the things that get people excited and enthused and inspired in a way that cannot be explained. Each horse brings a different thing to the table; each jockey capitalizes that horse’s talent. Each audience member pours enthusiasm into the horses’ veins. It’s the trifecta of emotions that brings people from all over the world together in one magical, thrilling sport. Exhilaration, excitement, enthusiasm, that’s what horse racing is all about.
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