Althouse: At long last, a Triple Crown!

June 6, 2015

At long last, a Triple Crown!

Not since 1978....

45 comments:

Titus said...: That was exciting and he is owned by a controversial Muslim!; 6/6/15, 6:39 PM
Humperdink said...: A wire to wire win. Owner looked goofy draped with blanket of flowers meant for the horse.

I see Penny Chenery (owner Secretariat) made a guest appearance. Great movie (Secretariat)if you're a horse fan.; 6/6/15, 6:42 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Snoresville. Nothing wrecks a horse race like a sure thing.; 6/6/15, 6:42 PM
Quaestor said...: True class. Notice how relaxed and happy American Pharaoh looked as he strolled to the winner's circle. He's much like Secretariat -- a colt who exalts in his perfection.

The colt won it going away, so evidently he had speed in reserve. I'd like to ask Espinoza why he decided to use his bat during the final furlong when he rode so gently before.; 6/6/15, 6:43 PM
Quaestor said...: That was exciting and he is owned by a controversial Muslim!

Titus, besides being consistently trite and obnoxious, you're also one poorly-informed doofus. Ahmed Zayat is an Orthodox Jew.; 6/6/15, 6:48 PM
amielalune said...: Titus: Zayat is an orthodox Jew.

So sorry for you.; 6/6/15, 6:48 PM
Scott said...: 2nd fastest time since Secretariat.. No snoozer this horse..; 6/6/15, 6:48 PM
Original Mike said...: I watch every year hoping for a Triple Crown winner. What a horse.; 6/6/15, 6:51 PM
Humperdink said...: How much whipping is too much?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/horse-racing-how-much-whipping-is-too-much-1432581757; 6/6/15, 6:52 PM
Quaestor said...: The "whip" is called a bat, and it's use is often necessary. A horse is controlled by the aids -- primarily the rider's legs and seat. The reins are also an aid, but a minor one. There are other even more subtle aids, but let's not get too technical, suffice it to say that a communication between a skilled rider and a well-schooled horse is almost invisible.

Jockeys, however, ride at a disadvantage. A race horse goes at fully extended gallop, which is the least controllable gait, and the jockey has virtually no contact with the horse except through the reins. The leg and seat aids just aren't there. The bat is mostly used in place of the seat and legs to create implusion, but it is also used to move the horse to the side, away from congestion or an imminent foul. Without the bat horse racing would be a lot more dangerous than it already is.; 6/6/15, 7:09 PM
Titus said...: Did anyone happen to see the interview with the son of the Muzzie owner. He managed the horse and recently graduated from NYU-he was fucking incredibly looking!!!!; 6/6/15, 7:22 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: What Quaestor said at 7:09 but with women.

I am Laslo.; 6/6/15, 7:23 PM
Titus said...: oh no he is a jew? I love jews too!; 6/6/15, 7:23 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/6/15, 7:25 PM
Titus said...: Jews and muslims kind of look alike and they both have cut cocks. I love dark skin and hair. There are a ton of movies on Netflix about gay Jews and Muzzies hooking up in Jerusalem.

Latinos are uncut.

I always thought we could bring jews and muslims together by the fact that they both have cut cocks. That is something they share and should celebrate!

I went out with a jew for a year and I absolutely was in love with him. He had a master's degree in computer science from Yale.
He was born and raised in Brookline-perfect! Both his parents taught at Harvard, and me, some poor midwestern, among society! His dog Noah would cum to my house when we had sex. Noah was a siberian husky and I sent the jew some car with the word Noah in it-how dramatic and sad. The jew just stopped calling me and I was devastated. I listened to the Carpenters for like 3 months. I saw him a year later and he wanted to do me and I was like no-so gratifying!; 6/6/15, 7:40 PM
Big Mike said...: But, but according to Wired magazine (linked to by Drudge through the International Business Times) scientists proved that American Pharaoh couldn't win. I mean, science!!!

Maybe we need to send our scientists back to school and learn how to do science this time.; 6/6/15, 7:43 PM
Titus said...: Ok, so I was at an ATM a couple hours ago. A lexus SUV pulls up and this guy-who looks hot is just staring at me from the car. So of course, I stare back.

He cums into the ATM and he is to die for.-ripped abs/brown skin/arms were huge/waist was 30-I looked at the gucci label/armani exchange tight fitted t. He was probably 25-28 with smokin eyes. He asked me why I was staring at him and I said because he was staring at me.

Then he asked me what I liked to do. I said I like to work out...but I knew what he meant. I said I am open to anything and he asked if he could suck my hog. So I got into the Lexus and we were looking for a place to park-we parked behind a "mall". He asked me to take down my pants and he blew me-his wife was calling constantly. I asked him where he is from and he said Egypt-dreamy! One minute after I came in his mouth a security car came up and asked us what we were doing and my husband immediately produced some car inspection paperwork and we said were discussing the inspection. The security dude said cool.

He pulled his muzzie cock out and it had a nice curve to it.

He drove me back to the ATM and I ran home like Madonna in the Sex video-; 6/6/15, 7:53 PM
Tank said...: Made it look easy.

Home town hero - Teaneck, NJ.; 6/6/15, 7:56 PM
Brill said...: Who cares if horses are Jewish. Is he circumcised? Oy!; 6/6/15, 7:57 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Professional athletes like to talk about the great athletes as "studs". Well now we have a great athlete--of the equine four legged variety--who really will be a stud. Want to see how his crop of colts and fillies comes out in about 5 years.

I mean the horse won going away! There was still a lot more in his tank at the finish line.; 6/6/15, 8:14 PM
traditionalguy said...: I am not that into racing of one horsepower racers. It seems to be all gambling on a super rich man's hobby. Why does anybody care?

The Seabiscuit movie was great. But it was all about the trials of the poor rich owner and the poor abused jockey and the poor disrespected horse that saved the day with a man's warrior spirit...or so the story goes.; 6/6/15, 9:24 PM
Titus said...: In the end though I scored big time. I married a Hindu of high caste, born in India, raised in London, who went to Oxford, where both his parents taught.

Althouse has pics to prove his hotness, but I know she will never share...I am that hot, felllow pubes!

So the Wisconsin cheesehead, who left at the age of 17, succeeded.; 6/6/15, 9:35 PM
Anonymous said...: @Scott. American Pharaoh came in at 2:26.65 It's actually the 6th fastest time. Since Secretariat, there have been three horses who ran faster than Pharaoh did today: Easy Goer, AP Indy and Risen Star. Of course, none come close to Secretartiat's 1973 time of 2:24:00; 6/6/15, 9:37 PM
MisterBuddwing said...: American Pharaoh came in at 2:26.65

Compliments on spelling "Pharaoh" correctly - until recently, I thought it was "Pharoah." And so did the people who named the horse.; 6/6/15, 9:43 PM
Louis said...: The singularity is near.; 6/6/15, 10:15 PM
Scott said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/6/15, 10:28 PM
Roughcoat said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/6/15, 10:46 PM
Roughcoat said...: Of course, none come close to Secretartiat's 1973 time

Watching Secretariat kick into high speed was like watching the Star Ship Enterprise shift into warp drive. Whoooooosh! It was as if Ronnie Turcotte flipped a switch. It's worth noting that Turcotte never (so far as I know) used the whip on Big Red. Certainly not in the Triple Crown races. Didn't need it. Basically, and as Turcotte admitted, he was just along for the ride. Big Red decided how he was going to run his races. In the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness he loped along in last place before deciding to turn on the afterburners. In other races he toyed with his opponents before blasting past them into the lead, sometimes by going wide around them, sometimes by thundering up through the middle of the pack. In the Belmont he "let" Sham make a race of it til about the half-way point and then he turned into a god and took off in a way that had never been seen before and likely never will be seen again. In the Marlboro Stakes, which some regard as his finest race (because of the quality of the other horses he raced against) he ran in fifth place before making his move on the back stretch. At which point he rocketed into the lead and overtook the great Riva Ridge on the home stretch to win by more than two lengths. Anyone here who wasn't alive or who was too young to remember Secretariat, do yourself a favor and watch his races on YouTube. Listen to the legendary announcer Chick Anderson calling the Belmont and feel the goosebumps: "He's running LIKE A TREMENDOUS MACHINEL!" Oh my. I literally thank God that I was alive to see that animal race.

That said, congrats to American Pharoah [sic] for a job well done.; 6/6/15, 10:53 PM
Scott said...: @M Mott. I stand corrected. His time was the second best for Triple Crown Winners.; 6/6/15, 11:18 PM
Babaluigi said...: Horses are some of the most beautiful animals, and seeing them stretch out as they are running is a sight. American Pharoah is obviously quite special, and seeing him pull ahead at the end the way he has is quite thrilling. He was the favorite, true, but there are no guarantees.

I have never been to Belmont, but had family whom lived just a few blocks from the track for a few years. I only visited in the winter, and when we went anywhere it was into Manhattan. I had never looked on a map, and they never mentioned it until we were discussing my upcoming Derby adventure...but I do not think they ever went there for a race, themselves.

I am not a person who particularly enjoys or looks forward to gambling, but going to the Kentucky Derby has been crossed off my bucket list. I was fortunate to be invited to enjoy and become part of the spectacle by some very generous folks a few years ago, made my own hat, and had a great time. The actual Derby race is the final of the day, and it was decided that I must bet the Derby race, since I had not wagered all day. So fine. Who's running?... "Animal Kingdom"? Well, I like the Disney park, so bet $2 on him for me...

Animal Kingdom took the race quite unexpectedly because his original jockey was not riding, and I won $48! Woo Hoo!...imagine if I had bet real money! ...Meanwhile, one young man in our group had spent the entire night before figuring every winning configuration possible for the Derby race and had a stack of tickets almost 2 inches tall-- but had left Animal Kingdom out of his prognostications...

I have also been to the Downs for the Oaks (3-year-old fillies the day before Derby,and a Breeder's Cup (and bet on chef Bobby Flay's horse because he is a Restaurateur, and won, see my method?). The Oaks is a "pink" breast cancer deal so the outfits and hats are generally not so fancy but just about everyone wears at least some pink. I have gone one other time, with a friend who is native to the area. After we had gone to the paddock to get a look at the horses coming up, she would call an uncle or someone who seemed to know about every horse and jockey. Of course, one has to bet to win...she did ok that day...; 6/6/15, 11:34 PM
Unknown said...: I'm a little too young to remember Secretariat's Triple Crown run, but I do remember the match race between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure at Belmont in 1975. It was one of the very few times I ever saw my dad cry.; 6/6/15, 11:36 PM
eddie willers said...: Of course, none come close to Secretartiat's 1973 time

That was a jaw-dropping performance.

He was so far in the lead that the TV camera had to pan back just to see the other horses.; 6/6/15, 11:38 PM
Quaestor said...: Compliments on spelling "Pharaoh" correctly - until recently, I thought it was "Pharoah." And so did the people who named the horse.

American Pharoah (if spellcheck hates it's correct) got his name through an error. Correcting a colt's name is difficult, by now with a racing record it's probably impossible barring some kind of court action (The courts need to stay away from sport, goddamn it; leave us at least one sanctuary from Big Brother, please.)

Jockey Club registration procedure has changed considerably over the last ten years. Before that everything was conducted by register mail. You had to photograph the foal -- front, back, left side, right side with a slate in the picture with sire, dam, and foaling date clearly visible. (We had digital photography with embedded metadata for a decade before the JC admitted its existence.) Then you had to get notarized copies of blood work on the sire and dam for ID purposes. Then you had to choose three names. As I recall the names had to be no more than 28 letters and spaces. You gathered all these documents together plus a copy of the stallion owner's breeding report and sent this by registered mail to the Jockey Club. Then it took 6 to eight weeks before they notified you if all was in order or if there was a problem. I remember it took almost two years before I got one filly named, by that time she'd been Hey Hook's chestnut girl so long that her ring name became "Commie Babe" (chestnut = red, girl = babe)

Now you can do most of this online. You can get a name reserved at least pending, the DNA lab work. Evidently this is what happened to American Pharoah. Nobody noticed the goof until the colt had already received his number and tattoo.; 6/7/15, 12:03 AM
Petunia said...: He's cryptorchid.; 6/7/15, 12:15 AM
Quaestor said...: He's cryptorchid.

Oh, shit.

If he was a Hanoverian or a Trakehner that won't be a problem; those Verbands allow AS. Last I heard The Jockey Club still demands live cover exclusively. That will a problem. Cryptorchid stallions often have low sperm counts, or low motility, which makes servicing mares reliably a problem.; 6/7/15, 12:23 AM
Quaestor said...: Back in 1984 I bought a 4 year old cryptorchid colt from a lay-up farm in Texas as hunter/jumper prospect. He was a nice moving 16.2 bay that had been put up for sale to cover his board bills, so I didn't get the papers. My plan was to train him up, get him gelded, and sell him as to an amateur owner or junior as a show horse.I should have gelded him first and saved the trouble. As an intact ridgling he was a perfect gentlemen around mares, even mares in heat. But after the surgery his behavior changed radically, he was almost crazy. It seems that there is pituitary testosterone as well an the testicular kind. When his ball(s) disappeared his hormone balance when to hell. I sold him at a loss. Happy ending though. After about a year on turn out he calmed down. A teenaged girl bought him and made a respectable junior jumper out of the waif.; 6/7/15, 12:39 AM
Johhnybandit said...: @Quaestor
I was too young to remember Secretariat's triple crown run, and I questioned your description of the horses wins and the jockey's use ( none use ) of the whip. So I did go to youtube and watched the three races involve. I must admit, not once did I see the jockey go to the "bat" to urge the horse on, and the Preakness race was amazing. How Secretariat goes from last to first is amazing. It's like the jockey is hiding a bottle of nitrous under the saddle. Thanks.; 6/7/15, 12:48 AM
Quaestor said...: I didn't make any comment about Secretariat other than to compare the post-race poise of both TC winners.

It is quite true that Ron Turcotte never used his bat on Secretariat in any of the TC races.

I did comment on yesterday's Belmont. I was critical of Victor Espinoza using his bat on AP when he evidently had all the bottom he needed to win handily. Watch the Belmont clip again. Espinoza used the bat in the last furlong. He hit the horse at least twice.; 6/7/15, 1:09 AM
Johhnybandit said...: @Quaestor
I'm sorry. You're correct. I went back and re-read the comments and it was Roughcoat that made the Secretariat comments. I do apologize for the confusion. And I thank you for the knowledge you have supplied regarding the subject.; 6/7/15, 1:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Until today I haven't watched a horse race since the beautiful Barbaro broke down in the Preakness. That was heart breaking to see. But I decided to watch today's race to witness history in the making. I was especially gratified there no injuries to horse or rider. It was a magnificent run to the finish.; 6/7/15, 2:11 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: Great movie (Secretariat)if you're a horse fan.

I recently drove a two-day trip with a guy who used to be a trainer of race horses. I learned a lot about them on that trip, I asked the guy what he thought of the move and he said he couldn't watch it because that horse they claimed was Secretariat ran like a "claimer." By this time in the conversation I knew that to be compared to a "claimer" was not the highest praise.

That' being said, with my new found appreciation of horse racing, I enjoyed the race greatly. It even gave me chills, vaguely remembering Seattle Slew and Affirmed, and even Secretariat, though I was a tween at the time, and my memory of that horse is sort of dream-like.; 6/7/15, 5:25 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: I too would like to thank Quaestar for bringing this thread back om the rails and for sharing his knowledge.; 6/7/15, 5:41 AM
Humperdink said...: " ..... Listen to the legendary announcer Chick Anderson calling the Belmont and feel the goosebumps: "He's running LIKE A TREMENDOUS MACHINEL!"

Recalling that race still gives me chills.

As an aside (per wiki): "At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn't believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine."[38] Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat's heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg),[37] or about two-and-three-quarters times as large as that of the average horse."; 6/7/15, 5:52 AM
Bob Ellison said...: There seems to be a great debate over whether Secretariat or Man o' War was the greater athlete. I'm not a horse guy and can't judge. It's a healthy debate.; 6/7/15, 7:36 AM
Quaestor said...: About Man o' War and Secretariat, they were both champions, but they we both less than dominant as sires, especially Secretariat. By far the most influential sire in today's bloodlines was a horse called Northern Dancer, who wasn't physically impressive nor was he a world-beater on the race course, yet his genes dominate TB breeding around the world.

There's some significance to color in Thoroughbreds. Among great champions chestnut seems to be over-represented, while gray is under-represented. That color might be a tell is at first glance odd, but maybe not. Most chestnut TBs trace to a horse called Eclipse (foaled 1 April 1764, day of a total solar eclipse) who was never beaten in 18 career starts, retired sound, and spent the rest of his days breeding mares in the spring and chasing foxes in the fall.

Race horse genetics is still mysterious, however it's clear that champions are rare, and being rare it's likely that champions have a lot of expressed recessive traits, otherwise these traits would be more common.; 6/7/15, 10:43 AM