A Tale of Two Triple Crowns

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us …’

- excerpt from the opening line of Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities.

Each year, the first Saturday in May marks the running of one of the world’s most famous horse races, the Kentucky Derby, held annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, since its inception in 1875, making the event the longest continually held sporting event in the United States.

This Saturday, the world will watch with bated breath as what has been dubbed ‘The greatest two minutes in sports’ kick-starts the American Triple Crown, a series completed by the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, events which are older than the Derby, first run in 1873 and 1867, respectively.

Traditionally held over five gruelling weeks since 1969, the American Triple Crown differs greatly from what is regarded as the English Triple Crown – the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, and St Leger - run late April/early May, early June, and September, respectively.

Driven by commercialism of American sports, especially television rights and the need to identify a champion before interest wanes, marketing of the American Triple Crown was crammed into five weeks, made even more attractive to owners with eyes on the breeding shed where winners would command significant stud fees by January of the following year.

However, poor field sizes in the Preakness, especially Kentucky Derby winners skipping the Pimlico race in favour of the 12-furlong Belmont in New York, has exacerbated calls for a rescheduling, a week later, allowing more recovery time for Triple Crown aspirants, quite possible for 2027.

At some point, Jamaica, catching the usual cold from a sneezing United States, departed from its English roots of a longer Triple Crown, staging the 1000 and 2000 Guineas in April, Jamaica Derby in June and St Leger in July, a nonsensical schedule, which worked against late bloomers, because unlike the United States, no stallion prospect was seriously considered from within local-bred ranks due to an already-established tradition of mainly imported sires.

However, as Dickens stated, “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”, to which the current horse-racing promoting company at Caymanas Park, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), handcuffed by the COVID-19 pandemic, first effected change in 2020 by running the 12-furlong Derby as the final leg of the Triple Crown that year.

The ‘Season of Light’ dawned on SVREL that season after undefeated Wow Wow, who had chased down Mahogany for a 10th straight win, landing the 2000 Guineas in July, was upstaged by stablemate Nipster at 13-1 in an October 1 St Leger.

King Arthur, an 18-1 longshot, beating Nipster by a half-length in the October 31 Jamaica Derby, ended ‘the season of Darkness’. In 2021, SVREL moved the 1000 and 2000 Guineas to early June, the 10-furlong St Leger to July and the Jamaica Derby to the first week of August, effecting what the Americans are mulling five years later, a longer recovery time for horses on the Triple Crown trail.

However, it took a pandemic to force the hand of an industry, which should have known better that what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, has among its takeaways the importance of fairness and equity in maintaining peace and stability among all community members, which the local racing fraternity sadly lacks.

Personal vendattas, old grudges, selfishness, and classism strangle an industry, which continues to carve away at its nose to spite its face instead of capitalising on what could cooperatively be ‘the best of times’ while, internationally, horse racing, especially in North America, is facing ‘the worst of times’, despite the glitz and glamour of its commercialised Triple Crown.