Sports Nut: Abolish the Triple Crown

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Sports Nut Abolish the Triple Crown I'll Have Another's retirement from racing confirms it: Horse racing's famous feat is anachronistic and impossible to achieve. By Edward McClelland Posted Friday, Jun 08, 2012, at 06:58 PM ET Update, June 8, 2012: Today's scratch and retirement of I'll Have Another on account of a swollen left front tendon confirms my conviction that the Triple Crown has become a detriment to horse racing. The pursuit is too much, too soon for the modern 3-year-old. I'll Have Another's inflamed tendon makes him another Triple Crown casualty, along with Barbaro (who broke his leg in the Preakness two weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby) and Big Brown (who was found to have a crack in his hoof after the Preakness and finished ninth in the Belmont). If I'll Have Another had been brought along more slowly, who knows how long his career might have lasted. He might have become an enduring champion, instead of ending his career as a one-month flash in the pan. Instead, we have a 12th consecutive Triple Crown tease. It's getting old. I no longer expect a Triple Crown winner. When will other sports fans lose interest? Now NBC has to air the most anti-climactic Belmont Stakes in history, and Belmont Park has to promote a race that just became a lot less interesting. I won't be betting on the Belmont, without I'll Have Another inflating the odds on the rest of the field. It still may be a great race, but without the Triple Crown hype, it loses meaning. Triple Crown Productions—which lost Visa as the guarantor of its $5 million bonus after 2005—should find a ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Is the Only Way We Can Feed the World by Farming Lots and Lots of Root Vegetables? How Did Thumbs-Up Become the Gesture for Hitchhiking? Slate Readers on Why They Don't Want Kids: Because I Love Taking Baths With My Husband	Advertisement
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