Preakness Stakes: Black Eye for Horse Racing … Death of Two Race Horses (Homeboykris & Pramedya) … Oh Yeah, Exaggerator Won

ON MARYLAND HORSE RACING’S BIGGEST DAY … TWO HORSES DEAD.

The 141st running of the Preakness States was overshadowed as two horses died and a jockey was injured at Pimlico Race Course during the first few races of a rainy Preakness Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first 4 races of the day, two horses were dead and one jockey injured. 9 year old Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico. 9 YEARS OLD AND STILL RACING? Later, 4 year old Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course. The horse was immediately euthanized on the track. In a bizarre irony, Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. We all sadly remember Barbaro, and Barbaro’s struggle to survive only to be euthanized in 2007.

Racehorse Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico, according to Sal Sinatra, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. The horse collapsed after his picture had been taken in the winner’s circle.

Later, racehorse Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course, according to Sinatra, and Pramedya’s Jockey, Daniel Centeno, fell and suffered a right clavicle fracture. Pramedya, 4, was euthanized on the track, according to The Associated Press.

Homeboykris’ owner, Jan Klein, said in a statement to ABC News, “We are all just heartbroken.”

“Kris had a small team who loved him and cared about him. His trainer, Fran Campitelli; his caretakers; and of course, me,” Klein said. “He loved what he did and we will all miss him. Such a wonderful competitor with a marvelous record.

“We all feel privileged to have been a part of his life,” she said.

There will be an autopsy for 9-year-old Homeboykris at the New Bolton veterinary care center in Pennsylvania, Sinatra said.

Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. Barbaro developed laminitis and was euthanized in 2007, according to the AP.

Oh yeah, and in other news Exaggerator won the Preakness Stakes defeating Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. There will be no Triple Crown winner this year and nor should there be. Triple Crown’s do not grow on trees and should never be a common occurrence, otherwise the one thing that draws non-horse racing fans to the support the sport would go away as well.

Exaggerator rained on Nyquist’s parade at the Preakness. And that’s no exaggeration at all.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up won the second leg of horse-racing’s Triple Crown Saturday in the rain and slop at Pimlico Race Course. Nyquist, the Derby winner, started fast but faded in the stretch, finishing third behind longshot Cherry Wine.

Kent Desormeaux, the winning jockey, said the secret to victory was staying close to the rail, shortening the distance Exaggerator had to run, while the other jockeys stayed wide.

After 37 Years Horse Racing Finally Has a Triple Crown Winner … American Pharoah Wins Belmont and a Place in History (VIDEO)

American Pharoah wins Triple Crown to become only the 12th horse in history to do so …

The wait is finally over, after 37 years horse racing finally has a Triple Crown winner. Yesterday, at the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, NY,  American Pharoah won wire to wire, as he did in the slop at the Preakness. American Pharoah’s winning time of 2:26.6 was the second-fastest for a Triple Crown winner at the Belmont, behind only Secretariat’s 2:24 in 1973.

Jockey Victor Espinoza put American Pharoah on the lead before the horses hit the first turn, and he stayed in front the rest of the way. When the horses turned for home, instead of tiring in his third race in five weeks, American Pharoah pulled away to become thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner.

List of the Triple Crown Winners.

NBC Sports:

American Pharoah became the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown when he won the 147th Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

Jockey Victor Espinoza pushed Pharoah to the front soon after the race started, and Pharoah outclassed the field, pulling away down the stretch to make history. Frosted finished second, and Keen Ice rounded out the top three.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes champion, American Pharoah began Saturday as a 3-to-5 favorite in the morning betting line, and those were the odds when the race began. He started from the fifth position in a field of eight.

American Pharoah becomes the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown, beginning with Sir Barton in 1919 and most recently Affirmed in 1978. After Affirmed’s Triple Crown win, 12 horses won the first two legs of the Triple, only to lose the bid at the Belmont, either because of an upset or because they did not start or complete the race.

Some of the following opinion is based on fact, but part is also based on the fact that it is tough to following horse racing after the death of Barbaro in 2007. Heck, I wasn’t sure if I would ever watch another race after Ruffian had to be put down in 1975 after the Match Race with Foolish Pleasure.

On a personal note, KUDOS to American Pharoah as winning the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and the Belmont Stakes is a great accomplishment; however, those who are making any kind of comparisons of American Pharoah to Secretariat either haven’t a clue to horse racing, the mood and culture of the times or are just trying to artificially pump up horse racing. In the 1970′s horse racing was king. And when it came to “Big Red,” the chestnut Thoroughbred was more than just a horse, he was named the #35 greatest athlete of all time. Secretariat was a celebrity who was followed and cheered for by all walks of life across society, which was remarkable seeing the the early 1970′s were so divisive.

Also, because horses today do not even come close to participating in the number of races of those horses from back in the day, American Pharoah is no Seattle Slew or Affirmed. Can one really compare times when a horse of today runs in the single digits of races while horses like War Admiral, Secretariat and Affirmed ran in the 20′s and Citation ran 45?  One of the issues I had with this years Triple Crown is it seemed as if there was a lack of talent in the field. American Pharoah seemed to have little to no competition and by the time they ran the Belmont, there was no horses there to challenge. Secretariat had Sham and  My Gallant as his main competition. Seattle Slew had Run Dusty Run and Sanhedrin. Affirmed and Alydar’s races were epic, actually beyond epic. In my opinion, American Pharoah is also no Citation or War Admiral.

California Chrome’s Owner Steve Coburn Blasts Horse Racing Industry After CA Chrome’s 4th Place Finish in Belmont, “It’s Not Fair” … “This is a Coward’s Way Out!!!”

Once again The Belmont proved to be the graveyard of Triple Crown glory as California Chrome, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness came up short and finished tied for 4th in his bid for horse racing immortality. The mile and a half proved to be too much for California Chrome, that and a questionable ride by his jockey, as in my opinion he should have stayed along the rail and taken the lead in a very slow paced Belmont. That being said, it was not lost on the owner of California Chrome that the horses that finished ahead of him and crushing Chrome’s Triple Crown glory were fresh horses that neither ran in the Derby or Preakness.

Following the race, California Chrome’s Owner Steve Coburn blasted horse racing, “It’s not fair to the horses that have been in the game since day one. [...] “This is a coward’s way out, in my opinion. If you’ve got a horse, run him in all three.”

New York Times:

“It’s not fair to the horses that have been in the game since Day 1,” Coburn said on NBC.

Other than California Chrome, only Ride On Curlin and General A Rod were in all three Triple Crown races this year. The Belmont winner, Tonalist, was the most lightly raced entrant.

Coburn proposed that the last two legs of the Triple Crown series be restricted to Derby participants.

“It’s all or nothing,” said Coburn, 61, who said he did not expect to see another Triple Crown champion under the current format. “This is not fair to these horses that have been running their guts out for these people who believe in them.”

He added: “This is a coward’s way out, in my opinion. If you’ve got a horse, run him in all three.”

VIDEO – The Right Scoop

2012 Preakness Stakes … WOW … ‘I’ll Have Another’ Wins Another … Fantastic Race Beats Bodemeister at the Finish by a Neck … Goes for Triple Crown at Belmont

The 2012 Preakness Stakes was one for the ages. The rematch between ‘Bodemeister’ and ‘I’ll Have Another’ did not disappoint …

‘I’ll Have Another’ won the 137th Preakness at the finish defeating ‘Bodemeister’ to take home the second jewel of the Triple crown. Two weeks following the Kentucky Derby that saw ‘I’ll Have Another’ defeat ‘Bodemeister’ coming from behind down the stretch, it was  de ja vous all over again.

It was exactly that. I’ll Have Another caught Bodemeister at the wire today to win the 137th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the first two races of the Triple Crown. He will go to the Belmont looking to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

‘I’ll Have Another’ ran a near perfect race even though the pace of the race was much slower than the Kentucky Derby. One would have thought that ‘Bodemeister’ would have had more than enough left in the tank to hold off ‘I’ll Have Another’. However, that was not the case. ‘I’ll Have Another’ in fact did have another as the California horse took the second jewel and will now go for the Triple Crown at the 1-1/2 mile Belmont in three weeks on June 9th.

No horse has won the Triple Crown for 34 years since 1978 since Affirmed. Why not, ‘I’ll Have Another’?