Gee, do you think Justify will be going to the White House?
The massive chestnut colt – huge, as a certain American president would say – secured the Triple Crown in decisive fashion Saturday with a win in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in New York. Schooled by Bob Baffert, 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s trainer, Justify is the 13th colt to win the Crown and only the second to do so undefeated (behind Seattle Slew, 1977). Neigh-sayers (I couldn’t resist) note that …
Read MoreSaturday, June 6 is D Day in more ways than one. American Pharoah will attempt to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown. Post time is 5:50 p.m. on NBC, though coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.
The odds, the experts say, are not with the Pharoah. There will be fresh horses – Frosted and Materiality, among them – gunning for him. Belmont Park, with the longest of the three Triple Crown tracks at 1 ½ miles, is not his home track as it was in the 1970s for Affirmed, Seattle Slew and Secretariat, the last three Triple Crown winners. Horses are bred today for speed not endurance. Yada, yada, yada. ...
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And so it begins again, the quest for two of the Holy Grails of sports, as sure signs of spring as cherry blossoms and roses.
American Pharoah will attempt to become only the 12th horse – and the first since my beloved Affirmed in 1978 – to win horse racing’s Triple Crown when he competes at the Belmont Stakes June 6, D Day in more ways than one.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic will attempt to unseat nine-time champion Rafael Nadal for the French Open title, which will be contested at Roland-Garros in Paris May 24 through June 7. Should Nole win, he would be halfway to doing what no man – not even Roger Federer – has done since Rod Laver in 1969 and that is win the Grand Slam in a calendar year.
These are pretty big Ifs. Can AP and Nole do it? Of course. They have the talent. But what makes life a horse race is that talent is not enough. You have to have luck, fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, on your side. And, more important, you – or, in AP’s case, his handlers as well – have got to believe not just that you can win but that you will. And that’s not easy when you’re a Thoroughbred – or have the high temperament of one. ...
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