When Lookin At Lucky won the Preakness yesterday, horse racing’s annual hope of a mainstream hero vanished for the 31st consecutive year. My good friend and business partner Steve Cauthen remains the last man to ride the a horse who swept America’s three biggest races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. Cauthen was a kid when he steered Affirmed to scintillating wins against the great Alydar way back in 1978. Two weeks ago Steve turned fifty.
Each year when the Triple Crown is foiled, Steve’s friends (me among them) call to remind him, “Well, you’re still famous.”
He doesn’t want to be. He wants someone else to win it, preferably a great jockey who carries himself and represents racing with a sportsman’s dignity. When Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver was defeated yesterday, Steve’s older brother Doug was foiled too. Doug owns a piece of the Derby champion.
Why hasn’t a horse been able to sweep three races since the Carter administration? Several reasons, none of which are a horse’s fault. Since money is involved, people have complicated a simple sport which required no complication.
Emerging three-year-olds are very young horses and the colts, geldings, and occassional fillies are still maturing when forced to lug 126 pounds farther than they’ve ever gone in competition. At this age they’re like teenagers. Triple Crown races are distances that these horses have not yet matured to run.
These are calendar-based races, so horses must be ready at a specific point in time, which is why so many are injured during training. The Kentucky Derby is always the first Saturday in May and the Preakness is two Saturdays later. The Belmont Stakes is three Saturdays after that. This requires a horse of great stamina to win tough three races in five weeks, a taxing workload even experienced horses rarely tackle. I race horses in the midwest and prefer three weeks between starts. I wouldn’t run my horse three times in five weeks unless they were short sprints in lieu of a workout.
The reason these young horses must perform thoughout these taxing trials is tradition; the schedule has been this way since the late 1800s. Breeders and trainers, however, have gone away from old customs. Because of that, it’s harder than ever to breed and train a horse with the stamina, talent, and “foundation” to withstand the inordinate demands of Triple Crown racing.
While human athletes continue to evolve to increasingly greater performance, horses don’t. They are what they are and not getting faster. Trends in breeding (which I also am involved with) are toward sprinters, since most races in America are written for much shorter distances than the Triple Crown requires. Only a minority of races are written for the range of distances similar to the long two turns of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont.
A furlong is an eighth of a mile, so the common 6-furlong sprint is three-quarters of a mile and involves racing around only one turn. Young horses must learn to race tactically and typically start short, then gradually stretch out to longer distances if their talent, courage, soundness, genetics, and body type permit it.
Horses are like people in that they’re all different. Some are tall, others short. Some have long frames, some are short and stocky. Some have thin bones, others thick ones. Sprinters are usually compact. Distance horses benefit from big frames and long strides. It serves to reason that if one horse covers ten yards with each stride and another only nine, there’s a competitive advantage to having to run fewer strides.
The Kentucky Derby is a crowded field with a long way for a young horse to run, a mile and a quarter (10 furlongs). The Preakness is a tighter oval and a mile and 3/16s (9.5 furlongs). The Belmont is an endurance race, a mile and a half (12 furlongs). Winners need luck, tactical speed, physical soundness, and resilience. These distances are beyond what these young horses have previously run. A few can do it but many run out of gas.
Many breeders are supplying the auction market with what it wants–speed and sprinters. These horses will not have the genetic makeup or physical traits to compete at Triple Crown distances. Other young colts might have the physical skills but don’t have the mental capacity to withstand the rigors of the grind. Some have heart and courage, others don’t. Some are smart, versatile, and professional but others aren’t. Some travel well, some don’t. Some are fine in the mud, others hate it. The list goes on.
In horse racing the favorite wins about thirty percent of the time, and about ninety percent of the time the jockey just rides along. But the ten percent of the time the jockey matters, it really matters. In big races between horses close in talent, the jockey makes the difference.
Who’s aboard is vital because great jockeys make better decisions, act proactively instead of reactively, and do not beat themselves. These are gritty, bold, courageous athletes–the best in the world at what they do–and when they compete among themselves, it’s a game within a game that, at times, produces unforgettable memories.
Cauthen’s ride in the Belmont was one of those. If you care to watch it on YouTube, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmaqszF4GA. The video is grainy but worth the three minutes.
Cauthen is on Affirmed, Hall of Famer Jorge Velasquez is on Alydar. Jorge was a brilliant talent. Two years before, Velasquez won more races than anyone in America; he finished his career having won 6,795 races. But this year, 1978, Alydar finished second in all three Triple Crown races by less than two lengths combined.
In the run to the wire, watch Cauthen switch the whip from his right hand to his left. This was a move unique to this race and inspired Affirmed forward. Four titans were alone at the finish: Affirmed and Alydar, Cauthen and Velasquez.
It takes a super horse and great team to win the Triple Crown. Hats off to those who try.