It’s a game of numbers: Of the approximately 26,000 possible contestants born
annually to do this, only 20 of them in any given year will even receive the
chance to try.
Over all of the years and from among all of those eligible,
only 11 others have actually done it. Since 1978, 12 others have tried only to
fail in their third and final attempt.
Thirty-six years. That’s two and half centuries in dog
years. In the horse world, it’s a lifetime. In fact, 36 years is two or three
lifetimes in the horse world.
Thirty-six years. That’s how long it’s been since we’ve
rejoiced over a Triple Crown winner in horse racing. That’s a couple of
lifetimes full of anticipation. That’s a couple of lifetimes in which an entire
industry has begun to fade ... in which the fantasy and appeal of the sport of
kings has dimmed.
However, in a world where winners are determined by
fractions of a second, five weeks seems to be all the time we need to simply
believe again.
Five weeks.
That’s how long it’s been since hope was rekindled. Five weeks since
California Chrome, a horse whose backstory defies all the odds, began doing
what no horse has done in decades.
He’s made the nation pay attention. He’s made us want to
believe.
Sure. There have been 12 others that have given horse racing
fans pause in the last 36 years. But, few – if any - have had a story worthy of
a made-for-TV movie. None have given rise to rap videos by school kids. None
have inspired us with the one thing this unlikely hero actually seems to have
going for him...
His heart. A tremendous, tremendous heart. And the ability
to run on nothing but that heart.
.... That winning the Triple Crown is an uber long shot even
with the best of pedigrees and utmost planning. A shot most would have said
this horse never had.
... That his mom was considered unspectacular at best and a
dumbass investment of $8,000 at worst.
... That his dad is an unknown in which few have put much
stock.
.... That his owners are neither sheiks nor billionaires and
were considered stupid for taking the chance.
.... That he hails from a state not known for producing
big-name stakes winners.
.... That his trainer isn’t an industry golden boy but
rather is an unassuming man, long in the tooth, whose last real Derby
experience was nearly 60 years ago as an exercise rider.
.... That his jockey has a dismal record at Belmont.
.... That history says the odds simply are not in his favor.
He doesn’t know that what he’s being asked to do is akin to
catching lightning in a bottle.
Some might say he doesn’t know that an entire nation will be pulling for
him to do just that ... capture that lightning. Not me. I say
that a horse running on that much heart absolutely will feel what is in the
nation’s heart.
Will that be enough?
Only time will tell.
But I think that, if we all believe, the time just might be
now. The horse just might be California Chrome.
And
whose heart won’t sing with the addition of a just little more chrome in their
lives?
