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It is a Sunday night of a long weekend, but some things cannot wait – what a win for American Pharoah to take the USA’s Triple Crown of racing!
He was away slowly in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes (2400m) by half a step but eased his way to the front in just a few strides as he attempted to win wire-to-wire.
Hearts started thumping the moment it was clear he would win, and not just win but brilliantly gallop away from the field at the finish.
Personally, I haven’t felt that emotion of watching such a dominant and significant winner since staying up late watching Frankel tear fields to shreds.
It’s a spine-chilling moment in sport when you realise you’re watching a great. We’ve been lucky enough to see a few recent ones that come to mind – from a horse like Black Caviar, American Pharoah this morning, or Frankel, to humans such as Usain Bolt.
Intriguingly, the time of the 2015 Belmont Stakes was 2.65 secs slower than Secretariat’s record time from 1973 – about 12 lengths or so slower. Watch it if you get a chance – one of the world’s greatest athletes decimating a field of five and still setting a time that will stand for a considerable period to come.
So how does this all come back to Sydney? Racing NSW has said they’d love to get the Triple Crown winner. And while any jurisdiction would obviously love the chance, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys was on hand with Australian Turf Club chief executive Darren Pearce and Peter McGauran, Australian Racing Board chief, hoping to land American Pharoah as a possible drawcard for the 2016 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
V’Landys, in New York state for the Pan-American Racing Conference, spoke to Fairfax media about convincing his owner to bring him to Australia – surely a thousand to one chance, given his potential to earn huge money off the track.
“We haven’t spoken to them [the owners of American Pharoah] but of course we would like too,” V’landys told Fairfax. “You can’t get near them at the moment.
“There are issues that we are still trying to work out to get an American horse to The Championships. There is no quarantine centre in the US, which makes it impossible to get a horse to come [to The Championships]. It has been the only thing that has stopped it happening so far. We are working on a solution to that and it would be great if this bloke could have the opportunity to come to Sydney.”
“I have never been to a racing event quite like it. The engagement of the crowd and the roar as they come into the straight was incredible,” V’landys said.