Triple Crown 2011 part 3- The finale

When I went to the KY derby this year , I left thinking AK could win the 2nd race and come to the Belmont seeking the elusive triple crown. I did not think that a 20-1 longshot could pull an upset, because Mucho Macho Man , Shackleford, Nehro and several other contenders were included in the field. I thought if an upset were to occur, it would surely be 3M( mucho macho man) , and then Nehro... Not Ruler on Ice. Let me discuss what I thought happened at the Belmont..

post parade- and some of the horses and how they seemed

* Master of Hounds- He ran in the derby pretty well for a Eurpean bred horse, and had traveled from Ky to Europe, to Belmont park. He was assigned a good post for his running style- post 1 and I expected him to do well. I had heard earlier in the week he had acted up in his stall due to filly walking by, but I figured he had calmed down by race time. During the post parade, his jockey wanted to make it European Style, breaking MH from his lead pony to warm up alone.

* Mucho Macho Man seemed perfect, he was not sweating nor acting up and I was kinda feeling he could pull it off. If it wasnt for his shoe issues, he probably could have won the derby or preakness. btw- his name is awesome. He had some custom made shoes on made of polyurethine ( i think i spelled it right lol) , and had a groove so his feet would not slip out of them again. He broke outside of Animal Kingdom- post 9 . He also was one of the largest in the field, I believe he stands at 17 hands but hes a big , gentle giant.

Btw , everyone should listen to the song " Macho Man",

heres a picture of him, isnt he adorable??

* Animal Kingdom as he was in the derby and preakness, was cool, calm and collected. Nothing seems to faze this magnificent animal, not even a fly! He would break from post 9, a decent post and would be a good post for him to break from.

* Nehro- I didnt see Nehro on Tv during the post parade but I did hope he would do well. I felt bad for him because in his last races, he always finished second. I secretly hoped he would get his first win, because a win was due for him.

* Ruler on Ice- When he exited the tunnel, he got stirred up- I suppose by the loud music and kinda became sweaty and hyper. I will say this, I did not think he had a chance in the race, and I had him finishing 8th. He was beautiful though, and I had no idea he had Belmont winners in his blood line. He was to break from post 3

* Stay Thirsty- Who cant love this colt?I mean hes owned by Uncle Mo's owner and he is his stable mate. I expected him to do well, and I was hoping he would do well for Uncle Mo! He isnt the largest, nor the fastest but I do love him. Hes so cute, right?

* Shackleford- Just like in the Preakness, he began to prance around, kick his behind legs and act up. Once again he was stunning, his beautiful clydesdale-like face shone in the light, and he appeared to like the sloppy track. heres his blaze, I just love it. He did not have the best position- post 12.

As the horses approached the gate I became more confident in AK's chance of winning the race, and had 3m finishing second, and Nehro 3rd . I didnt think Shackleford would handle the mile and a half distance as well as he handled the preakness distance.

All the horses loaded into the gate well , and I held my breath because I am always afraid a horse will decide he doesnt wanna run, or stumble out of the gate. Unfortunately AK stumbled, and my heart raced a million beats, and I was scared. If you examine video of the race you will notice that 3 horses were involved- Mucho man, AK and Monzon. It appears Isnt he Perfect might have bumped into 3 M causing him to bump into AK, causing him to fall. It isnt the horse's fault but I feel the rider on Isnt he Perfect was kind of careless. Heres a picture of the stumble.

Watching that happen was awful especially because my two horses I love- 3M and AK were involved and could have fallen down, losing both jocks. Animal Kingdom showed he had guts and quickly recovered and tried to redeem the race, although fans and his connections knew his race was over. The jockey could have given up , but he didnt! Shackleford- the gutsy , clydesdale look alike, as expected became the pace setter and ran first the whole race, with Ruler on Ice following a close second. Animal Kingdom remained towards the pack the whole race, but tried to come back . In the homestretch , as I expected Shackleford faded and Ruler on Ice began dueling for the lead with Stay Thirsty ( owned by Uncle Mo connections) , and Ruler On Ice was the horse with a 3/4 length advantage. As the winning connections headed to the winners circle, ROI did not want those flowers and it seemed like he had more in him, like he wanted to run more.

This Triple Crown season has been a roller coaster and I am glad it is over. For the first time in a long time the favorite in the Florida Derby, Arkansas Derby , KY derby, Preakness and Belmont did not win . In the AK derby it was a beautiful colt by the name of ARCHARCHARCH , who made it to the derby and raced but was pulled up afterwards due to a foot injury. He has since been retired to stud to live the good life.

Now we begin the summer season with some key major races that include- The Travers, The Haskell, The Secretariat Stakes, and Arlington million.. All these races will lead up to the grand finale- THE BREEDERS CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS- where last year queen , undefeated Zenyatta lost her only race to Blame..

Will the favorite finally prevail? Will we see a matchup of derby contenders again? We wont know until all the Triple Crown horses come back from rest but I sure hope we see something great. We may not have seen a Triple Crown winner this year, or a horse like Secretariat but we did see a season of longshots winning, and upsets

next segment will begin tomorrow...