Racing season doesn’t end with Nyquist’s loss in Preakness
We will not have a horse going for the Triple Crown this year. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was soundly beaten by Exaggerator in the Preakness over a sloppy oval that he relished at Pimlico last Saturday.
To many in the mainstream media and the general public, that turns off their interest in horse racing until the Breeders’ Cup this fall.
But for those of us who follow the sport, we understand that losing races is a daily part of life. It is the ability to come back strong that separates the winners from the losers.
Nyquist spiked a fever and as a result will miss the Belmont Stakes. However, the second half of the season is full of hope for all of these 3-year-olds.
Later this summer, there is the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and the Travers at Saratoga. Then we will start seeing these 3-year-olds facing older horses leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Last year, after American Pharoah swept through the Triple Crown, he ended his career with a tour de force win in the Classic. Where racing misses out on his fame and glory is he was then retired to stud. No racing career as a 4-year-old.
I used this example on a local radio show to define this dilemma for horse racing. It would be as if Bryce Harper was named MVP in baseball and then he retired from the game. That would leave a gaping hole in any sport if your young superstar retired early.
This is another marketing reason why tying your future on to the tail of a horse is so fragile. The best case scenario for long term marketing would be if American Pharoah was a gelding. The breeding industry would cringe, but the horse would keep on racing.
Last year, the New York Racing Association capped the Belmont Stakes attendance at 90,000 for American Pharoah. I suspect NYRA would love for those who were shut out to show up at this year’s Belmont in two weeks.
There should be plenty of good seats available.
But the reality is the racing card on Belmont Stakes day is the best we will see this side of the Breeders’ Cup. NYRA has carded nine graded stakes races; six of them grade 1.
The Belmont itself will be a worthy event. Exaggerator will be a heavy favorite sans Nyquist. The rest of the possibles include Brody’s Cause, Cherry Wine, Creator, Destin, Governor Malibu, Lani, Mo Tom, Stradivari, Suddenbreakingnews and Wild About Deb.
At first glance the field is full of come from behind horses except for two from trainer Todd Pletcher: Destin and Stradivari.
While Pletcher has an awful record in the Kentucky Derby, he does a lot better in the Belmont. He has two winners in Palace Malice (2013) and the filly Rags to Riches (2007) plus four second place finishes.
The rising star of this Triple Crown season is Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of Exaggerator. He has toiled in the long Hall of Fame shadow of his brother Kent for 30 years.
Now he is getting some good horses to train and showing others what he can do. It took him 30 years to become an overnight sensation. For his sake, I hope other owners have taken notice too.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. You can get his Santa Anita picks by emailing him at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick
