Got Triple Crown?

Photo by Bill Brine via Flickr

I ditched National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo) a half mile back and have managed to shake off my saddle, bridle and mane beads so lovingly entwined in my mane. It's a horse's perspective in the form of an analogy about where I ended up for NaBloPoMo. I started it with every expectation that while rigourous in its daily requirement, we were just going for a jaunt down the trail. Boy was I renegade!

Maybe I went rogue but for the NaBloPoMo fans out there, maybe I deserve the title NaBloPuMo (National Blog Punter Moron), but for the horse fans (horses turned up quite prominently in most things I wrote last month), out there...I won't leave you stuck in the starting gate!

Here are Rachel's Triple Crown picks. I did well enough for the Derby, ignored (forgot) the Preakness. I'm now tuning back in to give you gambling types a leg up.

What the Gut Say... (yep, intentional lack of pluralization)
My gut says:  got Triple Crown? Yesirree, the Triple Crown would be awesome to see. A great horse with a great story of glory so late in the lives of his owners. It's hard to see past the desire to finally witness my first ever Triple Crown. This deserving California-bred should clinch it but...any critic of thoroughbred racing would ask- is it enough? Will it hold out?

• The gut says:  Tonalist. ?! For like...show--and barely. Ohhhkay, whatevs!
• The gut says Matterhorn. MATTERHORN. The gut says watch out for this guy. I don't know why.
• At first the gut was nonplussed to see Ride on Curlin on the list of contenders. Still in it? Give up! the gut rudely snarked. But then on the second glance through the list, I saw it:  sired by StormCat. 

Anyone remember StormCat? I don't. I know him more as a notable sire (an interesting name spoken out of the mouths of sports racing announcers is how I recall him) but...he's important because Storm Cat is a Northern Dancer grandcolt with ties to Secretariat through his dam. So Ride on Curlin is a great grandcolt. I don't know maybe that is too much dilution to matter.

• I think it will be within 1 length or less- Chrome and Matterhorn with Tonalist pulling some weird stuff in the pack (such as with 11 horses there really...isn't going to be a pack) to barely hit the money and nose out Ride on Curlin.

Chrome or Matterhorn?
But which horse will win? I don't know. How about this:

• Chrome is bred here in California where in the years he's been alive we've had some hot days. Really idiot simple logic and I'm not Googling temperatures wherever Harris Ranch is located at this time of year. It's. Just. Hot.
• Matterhorn was bred in Paris, Kentucky where it's forecast to be 84 degrees. The forecast for Hempstead New York where Belmont Park is this:

I have to go with the UV Index rating on this. It's very high. My prediction is it will be Chrome. Psst...I also ran a couple of numbers. I wonder what it would be like to name my own horses with numerology? Look at his name, it's super clear why California Chrome is a star ;)

Most of all here's my fantasy:  one day, in addition to pampered thoroughbreds, people will raise and cherish American Mustangs for their glory and beauty. Here is one heartbreaking story out there happening in Washington state. It's a story that smells of scapegoating the Yakima. But as a horse lover, it's super hard to engage in the sport when I know other horses aren't faring...at all.

In my dream there will be no more BLM (Bureau of Large Manure) Roundups and people will come together to protect, adopt, train and race Mustangs. There will be a Mustang Derby and a Mustang Triple Crown. Only to race, horses will need to be five years old, well developed and ready to run. It won't be a rich man's game any more. It will be a sport that comes back the people...you know...crowd-funded and with winnings for charity. It will be a new sports era where we cherish all horses equally for what they are and share in their talent to run.