Posted on
5/22/2007 7:14:58 PM
Horse Betting - Curlin Spoils Triple Crown Hopes of Street Sense
By Mike Dempsey
Yet another chance to see a Triple Crown winner has passed with Street Sense coming up an agonizing head short of holding off the late-charging Curlin in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
Street Sense appeared to have the talent, the connections and the pedigree to go on to Belmont Park with a legitimate shot of winning the Triple Crown.
The colt was the first to win both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby. His trainer Carl Nafzger and jockey Calvin Borel are two of the most respected and well-liked people on the backstretch. How can you not root for those guys, even at 6/5 in the Preakness?
Street Sense appeared to lose focus in the last forty yards of the race, perhaps peeking at the roaring crowd in the stretch. Borel said, ““I thought it was all over when I got by Hard Spun turning for home. I thought he was just going to gallop. However, things happen. He just got to gawking 40 yards from home and he just got outrun.”
Had Street Sense managed to keep his nose in front, we might have witnessed a Belmont Stakes for the ages. A rematch with Curlin with the Triple Crown on the line would have been fun. Three weeks of anticipation followed by a showdown that would have rivaled Ali vs. Frazier.
Now it’s anti-climatic. Sure, for us horseplayers there will be a 13 race card on Belmont Stakes Day including a $1 million guaranteed Pick 4 and a $1 million guaranteed Pick 6. But now, instead of the entire nation watching, it will just be us. No electricity, no fanfare, just another Saturday at the track.
We’ll blame it on Curlin; the Racing Gods must have been playing golf last Saturday. Or hooked up with some college coeds on the Preakness infield.
While Curlin is certainly a talented colt with a bright future, his connections are tough to root for. Trainer Steve Asmussen spent six months on the sidelines last year for a pair of drug positives. The trainer was featured this month on HBO’s Real Sports in a story about doping horses. HBO reported Asmussen has had more than twenty drug positives.
The owners of Curlin include a pair of Kentucky lawyers that are suspended from practicing law by the Kentucky Bar Association while being investigated on charges of misappropriating funds from a $200-million settlement in a class-action fen-phen lawsuit.
A far cry from Barbaro trainer Michael Matz, an Olympian who helped save children on a burning airplane that had crashed.
Well, I guess that’s horse racing.
Now it’s on to Belmont Park. The trainers of most of the top three year olds have been noncommittal about their intentions to run in the third jewel of the Triple Crown. It seems likely Street Sense will not show up in New York. Nafzger said on Sunday, “Right now, I don’t think we probably will. There’s not really any reason to go there right now.”
Preakness winner Curlin and third place finisher Hard Spun are considered “probable” at this point. Chelokee, the recent winner of the Barbaro Stakes for trainer Michael Matz is being considered. Todd Pletcher, sporting a 0 for 28 record in the Triple Crown, may start his talented filly Rags to Riches, who would be the first filly to run in the Belmont Stakes since Silverbulletday in 1999. The last filly to win the race was Tanya in 1905
Four Derby starters who missed the Preakness are being considered for the Belmont: Imawildandcrazyguy (fourth), Tiago (seventh), Nobiz Like Shobiz (10th) and Great Hunter (13th).
Sightseeing, winner of Sunday’s Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park is a probable... Lexington Stakes and Lone Star Derby winner Slew’s Tizzy is being considered. Cristobal may ship over from France for the race.
After getting used to heading for Belmont Park with a Triple Crown in the balance, this will be the third year in a row without the drama.
It won’t stop us from betting, but it just won’t be the same as if Street Sense had been able to hold off his rival and win the Preakness Stakes.
Keep checking the Locker Room all through the Triple Crown season, as we will cover the trainers, horses and jockeys in each race. You can get your early Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2007 Belmont Stakes.