2023 galloping Triple Crown thread

That was a pretty good race between Sham and Shecky Greene until Secretariat happened along. Each quarter-mile fastest than the previous one: 25 1/5, 24, 23 4/5, 23 2/5, 23. Even now, dumbfounding.

Mage would have been 11 lengths behind Big Red.

 

I think the end of racing animals may not be too far off. The track near me -- which has a pretty dismal safety record -- was just sold to developers. No one seems to care.

 

When Jimmy Breslin wrote "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game," published in 1963, he had a line on gambling that went to the effect that if gambling on baseball became legal, we'd see the Derby winner working as a rental horse in Central Park for $2 an hour. Well, that day is here. There are any number of major American cities with no racetrack at all, Boston being one, and I can easily see that by the end of this decade there might be a consolidation to like 10 tracks in the whole US. I love the track, despite knowing its cruelties, but the writing's really on the wall now.

 

Slots saved horse racing in Ontario but even then it seems the on track product - even at a place like Woodbine - has taken a huge back seat to the casino. They've been trying to make the King's Plate (feels weird typing that) - Canada's answer to the Derby, a race that dates to 1860 - into a Derby-type event for the stupid hat, looking to be seen crowd but it's nothing at all like that. They have upgraded the facility so it is light years beyond what is what when Big Red ran there and they are always expanding the property to include hotels and more entertainment space but I have no idea who is actually going to the races. My brother is a hardcore track guy but I'm not sure the last time he actually went to the track. He can bet from home on pretty much any track on the planet.

 

An interesting story about Secretariat from SI that was run prior to Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

https://www.si.com/horse-racing/202...rs-later-daily-cover?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I learned a couple things I didn't know about in a good read.

 

This wasn’t the first year I didn’t watch the Derby, but it was the first year I didn’t mind that I didn’t watch. Didn’t even look up the names of who was running. Didn’t even crave a hot brown.

 

I hope racing never goes away. The breeders need to do a better job of selecting for sturdiness over speed though.

And if you think thoroughbred racing is barbaric, come down Memorial Day weekend and I’ll take you to a rodeo.

 

Same here, but I watched the race itself later to avoid all the fluff. Good battle down the stretch.

 

Should I bring a chicken for the smoker?

 

I got you, boo.

 

Best summer job I ever held was working at Delaware Park. This could be cross referenced about "working kids" or "me too" or whatever. I was a hot walker and/or groom between 1973 and 1980, or so. NOT following the track, just working when they came to season here. I got permission from (High school?) to work at age 14, papers were required, then I asked MORE permission to be late for first period because my early work was from 5:30AM to 8:00AM. Granted, no worries. That was only for the 2-3 weeks until school let out. To get a job at Delaware Park for the season, as a hot walker or groom, you just went in really early, sat around the canteen, and a trainer would come asking for what they needed. Fit their bill? The job is yours.