Bob Hill
Staff writer
Tracksideview.com

I’ve now been a serious thoroughbred racing fan for about a decade.  When asked to name the events that generate the greatest interest for me I have no trouble answering.  For sustained captivation, nothing compares to the five-month build up to the Kentucky Derby every winter and spring.  For pure one-weekend excitement the Breeders’ Cup tops the list and the Arlington Million is a very close second.  When it comes to the one week every year that I look most forward to and always enjoy, the annual trip to Saratoga scores the win.  It was at Saratoga that friends Cam Davenport and Bill Roberts completed my indoctrination to the Sport of Kings. 

I’ve come to know that August is a month filled with exciting handicapping opportunities.  Del Mar, Saratoga, and Monmouth Park are in full swing.  Each weekend offers up meaningful graded stakes races of every variety.  Two-year-old maiden races signal the start of the time to make lists of next year’s Derby hopefuls.  The best turf horses on the continent gather at my home track, Arlington Park, to run in the Million.  Bonanza payoffs call to the serious gamblers among us to chase big scores.

Something else happens in August, as well, that I now can reflect on somewhat sadly after having engaged the sport for the past decade.  I have come to the realization that winning the Kentucky Derby is no guarantee of future success and greatness, and for some winners the die is clearly cast by August of their three-year-old season that greatness will not be the term by which they are remembered. 

The two showcase three-year-old races contested in August are the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.  In this past decade Street Sense is the only winner of the Derby to win the Travers.  There have been two – Big Brown and War Emblem – that have won both the Derby and the Haskell.  Some Derby winners have seen their racing careers end by August of the year of their Derby victory, and in the case of Barbaro his injuries not only ended his career but eventually took his life. 

And then there are the ones whose names become the answers to the question, “Name a Kentucky Derby winner that raced beyond the Triple Crown and never won another meaningful race in his career.”  This is where horses like Funny Cide and Mine That Bird (I know he is still racing) get mentioned.  I have a hunch that Super Saver will join that list before long.  To his credit, Giacomo did race as an older horse and although he did not win big races he did compete.  Put him on the list or leave him off?   Even Street Sense, a horse that I loved, disappointed beyond the Triple Crown.  He won at Saratoga in August, but he beat very suspect fields in doing so.  He was overshadowed by Curlin consistently beyond the month of June until he retired. 

Given the incredible prestige of the Kentucky Derby I also find it surprising that only four Derby winners in the past decade have gone on to win the Eclipse Award for top three-year-old male.  Funny Cide is one of the four, and I truly wonder about what impact the New York bias had on that vote.  Big Brown, Smarty Jones, and War Emblem are the other three.

Even armed with the awareness that winning the Kentucky Derby does not predict greatness, I have started my list of promising two-year-olds that will show up at Churchill Downs in May next year.  When the calendar rolls over to 2011 I will manage the list as though it holds answers to questions of great importance knowing full well that it is as likely to hold the name of an inglorious Derby winner as it is to hold the name of an exceptional three-year-old thoroughbred champion.  I probably have a better chance at winning the pentafecta at Arlington Park on Million Day than I do of having a Triple Crown winner on my list.  But in the spirit that horseplayers understand and of which Harvey Pack often reminded his Saratoga audiences, “The next race is only 30 minutes away, and when today ends there will be more racing tomorrow.”  It is way more fun to watch for the next great three-year-old than it is to dwell on the fate of Mine That Bird.