Help me understand this, because I know zero about Horse Racing.
Have there always been horses that just train for the Belmont and don't run the other 2 legs? (That does seem to make a Triple crown really unlikely) If it has always been this way then he just seems like a sore loser to me, but if it is a newer trend then count me in as the ignorant guy that sees his point.
You train your horse based on its capabilities. Going a mile and a half in the Belmont is something a lot of horses will only do once. That is a very long distance and uncommon, especially on dirt.
The Triple Crown is not a league or any sort of playoffs. It is just 3 races. They are the top races each year restricted to 3 year olds.
You can nominate your horse for any triple crown race prior to the year starting. You can do so later but have to pay a heftier fee.
Paying this fee now makes you eligible to take part in any of the Triple Crown races.
Some trainers will specifically target the Belmont, certainly. It all comes down to the horse. If you have a horse with superior breeding that suggest it would relish the long distance, then you would definitely aim for the Belmont if you don't for whatever reason make the Derby.
A newer trend in the last few years is skipping the Preakness if you ran in the Derby and then aiming for the Belmont.
This is by no way cheating or any sort of bush league tactic. This is actually owners and trainers taking great care of their horses. Horses aren't machines and they need rest especially when putting up big efforts. Too often are horses pushed beyond their limits and end up breaking down on the track. All because the owners just had to enter that stakes race to try and earn another check.
Perfect example is 2 horses in the Triple Crown races this year. In the Preakness, a filly named Ria Antonia ran and ran horribly. This horse had no business being in the race and actually wound up costing the 4th place finisher a shot at 2nd, maybe even 1st. The filly ran in the Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby and was beaten easily. The owner then wanted to run this horse back in the Preakness 2 weeks later which is asking A LOT, especially for a filly. Again, if you don't really follow racing you wouldn't understand how much that is asking because fillys tend to take longer to recover between races. A run back in 2 weeks or less is asking a lot of any horse really, and is very uncommon. You will see this more with horses that dont use Lasix.
Another example is a horse that ran yesterday, Ride On Curlin. this horse had a big effort in the Derby and the Preakness. Asking it to run again at a mile and a half was not in the cards at all. You could tell this horse had no interest at all in the post parade and he didnt run a lick. He was pulled up and beaten 85 lengths. Yesterday was its 7th race this year already and all the running finally took a toll on him. There was no reason to run him in the Belmont yesterday. Very poor caring and management of a very good horse, IMO.
If you dont get into the Derby you will aim for the Preakness or the Belmont if you think your horse has what it takes. There are plenty of horses every single year who run in the Derby who show soon after that they just do not belong at the top level. An example here is the Sunland Derby. The Sunland Derby is a prep race for the Kentucky Derby that awards points. Winning this race usually assures you a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate. This is historically a very weak race and the winners over the years are not at all up to par with the best of the best in the 3 year old crop.
The whole idea of the Triple Crown is proving you are the best by beating all competition in the 3 most grueling races a 3 year old can face. Is it easy? Hell no it isnt easy and it isnt meant to be easy. There have been numerous close calls in the last few years and it isnt at all impossible, just extremely difficult. If what Colburn suggested happened you would see a 4 or 5 horse Belmont field every single year. If that. Is that what we want?
It is absolutely fine the way it is. There have been plenty of near misses a lot closer than Chrome yesterday. We will see one eventually and it will have been earned.
NYRA also changed a rule specifically for this horse so he would be eligible to run. They removed the ban on nasal strips, which is entirely BS, but I wont get into that, just to give this horse a shot at the Triple Crown.
