Bob Hill
Staff writer
Tracksideview.com

Now that all three races that comprise the 2010 Triple Crown season have been run we can conclude that this year’s crop was very short on star power.  Undoubtedly, some among this group will win races of note during the second half of 2010, but if they follow the trend they have created to date we will continue to witness parity in thoroughbred racing – a phenomenon that does not serve the sport as well as when several horses become household names.

The evidence to suggest that this group is middling at best starts with the Kentucky Derby. Seriously, that race is now conclusively a negative key race.  The top four finishers in the First Jewel in the Crown returned to finish off the board in their next starts.  Super Saver was eighth in the Preakness and Paddy O’Prado sixth in that same race.  They did slightly better than Ice Box and Make Music for me – eighth and ninth respectively in the Belmont.  The only horse to hit the board in two of the three races was the pacesetter in the Preakness and Belmont.  First Dude held on for second in the former and third in the latter.

We will never know just how good Eskendereya may have turned out to be.  It is not hard to imagine that he would have had a legitimate shot at the Triple Crown had he not been injured.  As it is, Lookin At Lucky probably is the best of the lot.  He literally lost the Derby at the post position draw on the Wednesday prior to the race.  He got jostled around more than the lead skater in a roller derby event and still had enough left after that trip to win the Preakness two weeks later.

As we go forward from here I wonder if Super Saver will win again.  Mine That Bird, last year’s Derby winner, has not.  Drosselmeyer has proven already that his best distance is a mile and a half, a race rarely carded in the U.S.  His winning time in the Belmont was the slowest in 15 years and the ninth slowest in the 142 years of the race.  I will be shocked if he can win Grade 1 races at 9 or 10 furlongs, even against the less than inspiring competition he is likely to face.  First Dude will probably continue to hit the board in graded competition because of his running style.  Jackson Bend may be the most likeable of all in this group.  I will continue to enjoy watching him compete, but no one will describe him as a dominating presence.

There appears to be no Rachel Alexandra to provide the energy and excitement for championship racing this summer like that she gave the sport last year.  It is hard to believe that we’re not even sure if she can or will return to her best form.  Racing will go on, and fans of the Triple Crown series will soon start making their lists of promising two-year-olds for next year’s Triple Crown series.  I’m easy on this issue as I don’t necessarily measure the success of the Triple Crown by one horse winning all three races.  It would be nice, however, to have several to be excited about when the Belmont is in the record book.