Game Face: Racing Archives

Racing Archives

June 8, 2008

How Big Brown could have won

Everyone seems be talking about how the respective mustaches of Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon has led to their offensive bursts of late.

Well maybe Big Brown would have improved upon his last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes

Besides leading him to victory, he would have done with some hirsute style never seen at the Stakes before. For example, he'd probably look like this if he just let his stache grow.

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* From Keith Hernandez to"Catfish" Hunter, check out 32 great New York sports mustaches

* Read about the return of the mustache to NYC

* Flash Game: Match the 'stache to the man

— Pete Catapano

Posted by Pete Catapano on June 8, 2008 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

June 5, 2008

Just win the Triple Crown already, Big Brown

(Photo by Getty Images)

Allow me to state the obvious: If Big Brown wins the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, he will not be the first racehorse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in the same year.
He will be the 12th.
True, three decades have passed since the last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, managed the feat in 1978. Big Brown’s task is daunting and its fulfillment would be superb.
Still, all the sentimental palaver surrounding Big Brown’s “bid for history” at Belmont makes one wonder what ridiculous altitude the anticipation would reach if no horse had ever managed to win these three prestigious races in one year.
Of course, that is not the case. There were four Triple Crown laureates in the 1940s alone, and three more in the 1970s.
The fact is the Triple Crown, like a perfect game in baseball or a Grand Slam in golf or tennis, is a standard, not a record. Each has been done before.
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for a 57-game hitting streak that would surpass Joe DiMaggio.
So, Big Brown, please win Saturday so that we can fix our perspective.
— Max J. Dickstein

Posted by Max J. Dickstein on June 5, 2008 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

May 9, 2008

Finding humanity in horses

No human being can match a thoroughbred racehorse's package of speed, strength, determination and grace.

Horsemen, sportswriters, bettors and fans repose so much dreamlike admiration -- and such high financial stakes -- in horses that the animals are described as, and treated like, professional athletes.

(Remarkable performers though jockeys are, the athletes who primarily determine racing results are the horses.)

To read Max Dickstein's full column, click here.

Posted by Jamshid Mousavinezhad on May 9, 2008 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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