Preakness, Derby Winners Skip Belmont

By Author: JessK
Total Articles: 15
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There will be no competition to see between the winners of the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby this year as both of them have decided not to run at the Belmont. Bob Baffert, the trainer of Preakness winner, Lookin At Lucky confirmed that the colt will be leaving Pimlico on Sunday bound for some rest in Southern California in preparation for the Haskell Invitational.

Super Saver, who won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago will only be seeing the Belmont Stakes Betting from his stable as his team has also opted out or the races. His trainer, Todd Pletcher has also decided to give the horse some well deserved rest before he is to make his return visit at Chrchill Downs for the Breeder's Cup in November.

In a matter of just weeks, these announcements have somewhat seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the upcoming Belmont Stakes that are to take place in a few weeks. With Lookin At Lucky's victory yesterday it was virtually guaranteed that there would be no Triple Crown winner.

Ever since Affirmed won ...
... the Triple Crown in 1978, there have been a total of 11 horses that, although had won the beginning two legs of the Triple Crown, still could not perform as well in the last and final race, the last of which was Big Ben back in 2008.

It is starting to look as if horse racing betting is more and more becoming a sport less able to pique the interest and time of recreational sportsmen every year. D. Wayne Lucas, a trainer believes that another Triple Crown winner might only patch up the problem in the short-term as there are more and more distractions in the sports world these days to catch the interests of sports enthusiasts.

Many people feel that even if Super Saver had won the Preakness Stakes the attention would have more been focused towards the trainer or the jockey instead of the actual horse. Super Saver, unlike horses like Sunday Silence, Smarty Jones and Funny Clide, has not grabbed hold of the hearts of racing fans.

We now wait the for these two weeks until the Triple Crown betting of 2010 has officially concluded. Unfortunately for horse racing, it is sadly seeing the longest dry spell in 25 years ever since the drought between 1948's Citation and 1973's Secretariat. While the 70's were indeed a grand time for the races with Secretariat's amazing wins and Seattle Slew and Affirmed galloping onto the scene, that was essentially if when it came to Triple Crown winners and as the drought drags on, so does our wait for another star.