Union Rags and Camelot

For those who follow the US Triple Crown thoroughbred races, it will come as no surprise that there was no Triple Crown winner there this year. We have known that there would not be since last Friday, when the one horse, I'll Have Another, that had any chance of becoming the first US Triple Crown winner in 34 years was pulled from the race, as described in my preceding post. As it happens, I'll Have Another was also retired from thoroughbred racing altogether. He will live out the rest of his life trying to produce little horses like himself. This is only a bad outcome if you were one of the fans hoping to see him win the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel in the US Triple Crown races, yesterday.

The Belmont turned out to be a good race even without the Triple Crown hoopla, won by a horse called "Union Rags." You can see a podcast of the race here. May the racing career of Union Rags continue safely!

But on this side of "The Pond," there is still hope for a Triple Crown Winner. In the United Kingdom, there is much excitement in the air about the prospect of the first UK Triple Crown winner since 1970. In the UK, the three races that comprise the Triple Crown are the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby (pronounced "dah-by" in the UK) and the St. Leger Stakes. The Guineas is the shortest race and the St. Leger Stakes is the longest.

This year, a beautiful horse with the princely name of "Camelot" has won both the 2,000 Guineas (shown here) and just recently - on 2 June - the Epsom Darby (shown here) in front of the British Royal Family - with Queen Elizabeth II in attendance as part of her Diamond Jubilee festivities.

Those who follow racing in both countries will not be surprised that most British races - both flat races and steeplechases - are run on turf (natural grass surface). This is also the case in the rest of Europe. In the US, more flat races, including all of the Triple Crown races, are run on dirt or synthetic tracks.

If I were a horse, I would prefer to run on turf. But that's just MO.

Aficionados will also not be surprised to see - as in the Guineas, where there were several candidates vying for the win - that the horses often use the whole track. That is, instead of all horses grouping together on one side for the running of the race, there may be an entire group racing together completely on the other side, or even down the center of the track. This can also be seen in this year's Guineas. Fewer horses were entered in the Epsom Derby, mostly because Camelot is seen as a superhorse. Judging from the Derby, where Camelot was still pulling away from the field at the finish, he proved the point. Even the usually imperturbable British announcer showed more than modest excitement in the final moments.

I also have a personal soft spot for Camelot - not simply because of the name, which brings back memories both of Arthurian legends and the Lerner and Loewe musical, which I loved. It is also because of the era it signifies for me in my own country. "Camelot" - rightly or wrongly - was used to refer to the Kennedy Administration, the last era of national innocence that I can remember, as far remote from today's events in the US as the legendary Arthurian "Camelot" ever was from events in Britain today. Finally, Camelot's trainer and jockey are a father-son team, Aidan and Joey O'Brien. Because "O'Brien" was my maiden name, I will always be rooting for an "O'Brien combo" - especially where horses are concerned.

So I am still able to hope for a Triple Crown winner this year. It's just that I'll have to hope for one on this side of The Pond.