The Triple Crown: An accomplishment regardless of audience

 As Larry Collmus said on Saturday evening as it became evident, “American Pharoah is finally the one!” and just like that 37 years of waiting for a horse to win the sport’s triple crown was all over.  But a lot of the immediate reaction just 48 hours later has not necessarily been about the accomplishment itself but more so, something along the lines of “Do you care?”

                                                           Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Victor Espinoza crosses the finish line at the Preakness
aboard American Pharoah after a rainy day at Pimlico,

The answer to that question should be a yes from all sports fans.  Perhaps horse racing isn’t as popular as it was in the 70s when Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed all took home the sport’s most prestigious award but in no way should that diminish American Pharoah ending the drought. For 37 years, a horse not winning the triple crown was exactly what drew people in.  All eyes were on the Kentucky Derby winner heading into the Preakness and in some cases the Belmont yet it never quite happened until Saturday.  Now that it has it’s not a big deal and no one really cared to begin with?

After watching attempts from Smarty Jones, Big Brown, and California Chrome fall short, and seeing I’ll Have Another get scratched from the Belmont, I can say I was happy I was able to see this happen.  It seemed like year after year we would get teased with the possibility, but ultimately it wouldn’t be enough.  It’s the same narrative every year.  Most of the other horses don’t run in all three races.  The Belmont is the last race and is the longest one so how can a horse who already won the first two legs hold up for the third jewel of the crown when lots of the other horses are fresh? For once, these doubts were brushed aside.

This is the pinnacle of the sport. So yes, if you’re a sports fan, you should care.  All you had to do to care was watch three 2-3 minute races over the span of five weeks to realize what happened and respect it.

Some argue that the mystique of the drought is what drew some in and now that Bob Baffert, Victor Espinoza and the rest of American Pharaoh’s team have ended it, there’s not as much excitement surrounding the sport.  Maybe that will prove to be true.  However, that’s a conversation to have at this time next year when we’re going through the triple crown races again and we can see who cares and who doesn’t now that everyone has already seen the sport’s greatest accomplishment become a reality.  But for now, why not enjoy history?  After all, it might be another 37 years until we see it again.

Photo: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/05/17/american_pharoah_is_one_step_from_triple_crown_after_preakness_victory.html