AT THE RAIL WITH NAGS AND WAGS: AW, SHUGHS, WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR HORSE?

Orb in the gates for The Preakness Stakes.

Oxbow steals away to win.

Lukas and Gary Stevens

A complete stranger came up to me after the running of the Preakness, losing tickets in-hand, dragging his feet in disappointment he said:
"Oh what happened to our horse?"
You didn't have to ask who I was cheering for all decked out in red. I shook my head and said I don't know. It was a W.T.F. moment like when Big Brown pulled up in the Belmont Stakes and I'll Have Another scratched.
He was almost crying, looking for me to consul him; "We won't ever have a Triple Crown winner again will we...do you think?"
I was as bummed about it as he was and for the first time truly doubted it myself.
But if Makybe Diva could win the Melbourne Cup three times and Black Caviar could win 25 on end, surely a horse can win the American Triple Crown, tell me those days aren't over for us.
I must apologize for not having blogged over the weekend but I was at the Preakness playing, photographer, blog researcher, handicapper and travel organizer. Besides the exceptionally large race crowd it is also graduation season and the roads and hotels were insane. It took seven hours to drive from Delaware to the East End on Sunday, I hope the horses traveling back didn't get stuck in the same traffic I did. Orb, I believe beat his trainer back to Belmont. I can't wait for the Belmont Stakes, it's my favorite since it's my home track too and so nice they don't have that infield zoo in New York.
Now, what happened to our darling Orb? This is where I get to use my favorite line: "If a man doesn't make a fool of you a horse will." Having said that, I don't feel like a fool for betting Orb but I do feel stupid for having let the drop-dead gorgeous Itsmyluckyday go off without a wager. He got some of my money in the Kentucky Derby because of his good-looks and I wasn't falling for him again. As for Oxbow, I did something I never do. I past him over because he is a roan. He was listed as a bay and when he went by in the paddock I said to myself, is that horse a roan? Yes, he is and how many roans have there been that won big races? That, was foolish, especially since I had won on Stevens and Lukas in the race before the Preakness when Skyring, the English Channel colt from a Seattle Slew mare, won the Longines Dixie Stakes. I also told myself they couldn't do it back to back after having just said that does happen quite often. The jockeys' say it's because they are on a high from the last win and it pumps they up.
McGaughey said Orb wasn't comfortable running back where he was and if you look at the replay that is a good way to describe it. He is a long-striding horse that covers a lot of ground and Pimlico was a madhouse on the day. He runs his race from behind and I don't think it is fair to blame Rossario. Some horses astounded me with their calmness and others, I don't know how they coped. Belmont is home for Orb and I feel a different story. It's unlikely he will draw the rail again. The big long turns and straight and mile-and-a-half distance are going to suit him better. He's the sort of good horse with stamina that is going to train up to the Belmont well and the crafty Gary Stevens on Oxbow might not find it so easy to go wire-to-wire a again.
I'm not giving up on Orb. Too many times I've done that and paid for it, last year it was Union Rags I'd given up on who got the money. The horse I like most of all to improve is Itsmyluckyday. If you judge your horses on physicality, and I do, he's the horse to challenge. Then, Todd Pletcher has a few good horses that can make for an interesting Belmont as well. Usually by the time we get to the third leg of the Crown there aren't many left, that may not be the case this year. MyLute also ran very well in the Preakness although he has a different style to horses like Orb and Itsmyluckyday.
The only good thing about not having a Triple Crown hope is the crowd won't be as crazy, and did I say there are no infield idiots. You couldn't even see the horses racing round the backside for all the crap in the infield. People were looking at their tickets after the race and looking at the board and then back at their tickets. We all saw Oxbow steal away like a dog with the Sunday roast but it took a few seconds to process since it wasn't the result we'd hoped for. Everyone looked at each other like, "what just happened? Tell me that didn't just happen." But it did, it had and if ever I wanted to take two minutes back in time for a rerun it was then; and when Smarty Jones lost the Belmont Stakes, something I don't think I will ever get over. In fact, in my history book Smarty wins the Triple Crown and I'm in tears just writing about it now.
I don't have any tattoos. Yes, I am a boring clean-skin, but I swear if a horse wins the Triple Crown in my lifetime I will have his portrait inked on my back.
Please enjoy my photos from the wonderful backstretch tour, Black-Eyed Susan Day and The Preakness. Amateur photographers had to buy new cameras for the event. Since the bombings in Boston we are no longer allowed to take detachable lens cameras, or cameras with lens longer than six inches into the grounds. So while I was f...... with my knew camera, Orb went by and then Lukas ponied Oxbow out on the track and I missed them both.
Still the experience was priceless and I wasn't the only one there doing a bucket-list cross off. I met an older lady whose daughter was taking her to all three of the Triple Crown races for her bucket-list. Children enjoyed the races and more women are supporting the sport than ever. It's great to see everyone dressing up and getting into the color themes. It isn't quite like Australia yet where at the end of the day the guys are wearing the big flowery hats and the women are all walking around barefoot carrying their heels but there is hope for American racing. At least The Preakness made front page in Baltimore. On the elevator in the hotel a woman said I looked nice was I going to a special event? I looked at her thinking, you are kidding right? Then realized she was serious, I answered The Race. The hat hadn't tipped her off. I said; "The Preakness."
She responded with; "Oh that's this weekend, Lord don't tell my husband he will be upset, we are visiting family."
Oh sister, are you every talking to the wrong woman.