A Championship Legacy

Saturday, June 7, was a history day in sports. For those of you who have been under a rock since April, California Chrome, a race horse, won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the first two legs on the way to the Triple Crown, in the "Sport of Kings."

Saturday was the Belmont, the toughest of all three races, because this is the race which makes or breaks the champion and the chump. It is 1 1/2 miles of a grueling two minute or so ordeal which is tough for any horse or any man, especially if you have money riding (no pun) on the horse.

It was a beautiful day; bright, sunny blue sky, with puffy clouds in the high 70s. The track was perfect, no mud and great traction. Over 100,000 showed up for a chance to be part of history and have the ticket to prove it.

I grew up on Plainfield Avenue in Floral Park on Long Island, two blocks from Plainfield Gate and went to High School across the street from Belmont Park. Every day the track was open during the summer, traffic from 5 until 7 pm or so was difficult. I could sit on my front step and could tell who won and who lost by the attitude of the people in each car.

But on Belmont Saturday, the traffic was so bad, it crawled up Plainfield all the way to Jericho Turnpike. Understand that Plainfield was one lane each way, with five lights up the mile and a half ride. Floral Park's Finest were positioned along Plainfield, and also Carnation Avenue, another one lane each way transverse, to keep the flow manageable.

But trust me when I tell you this: in 1973 with Secretariat, in '77 with Seattle Slew and in '78 with Affirmed, NIGHTMARE ON PLAINFIELD would have been an Academy Award winner with the amount of traffic which went on until well past midnight. People stayed on at the track to savor that history at the pubs inside and the surrounding environs.

Since then, before Saturday, twelve horses made it to the Belmont with the prize in sight and went home empty.

Horses head down the stretch on the main track at Belmont Park. The Long Island race cource is home to the third jewel in the U-S Thoroughbred Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes. Photo by Dave Mock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those of us who take a casual interest in racing in general, rooted for California Chrome to make that history. For those who are huge horse players, gamblers actually, well I would imagine the June mortgage payment was riding on the nose.

This time, there were two additional races after the main race to keep the crowd in the house. Then, a concert after the day's card was held to help keep the rush to a minimum, at least for a while.

So on Saturday, June 7, 2014 after all the hoopla, the excitement, the buildup and the fretting, with a total of eleven horses rounding out the field, as I sat in the convenience and comfort of my living room, history was again not made in horse racing this year. And now, Number Thirteen joins the last Twelve to make it a Bakers Dozen of horses which could not measure up to the Challenge of the Belmont.

Congratulations, Affirmed. After 36 years, you still are the latest and last Triple Crown winner. Until next year...