California Chrome's Owner Is A Poor Sport In The Worst Way

[Sookie]

Apparently California Chromes owner, Steve Coburn, didn't handle yesterday's loss very well.Here is an excerpt of ESPN's coverage of Coburn's meltdown: I'm 61 years old, and in my lifetime, I'll never see another Triple Crown winner because of the way they do this, Coburn ranted to NBC. I look at it this way: If you can't make enough points to get in the Kentucky Derby, you can't run in the other two races.  Coburn wasn't finished, not even close. This is the coward's way out, in my opinion, he said. This is a coward's way out.  If this was all Coburn had to offer, he should've followed the lead of his media-shy partner, Perry Martin. This was poor sportsmanship to the max, an ugly end to a beautiful five-week ride. The horse and everyone around him deserved so much better than this amateur-hour spectacle, as Coburn passed on an opportunity to celebrate Chrome's competitive spirit for a chance on this warm, sunshiny day to rain all over Tonalist's parade.... You can read the full story here <a href="http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/11049184/belmont-stakes-california-chrome-owner-rant-ruins-great-story-belmont-park" >source</a>

 

[Mben]

It's too bad this happened after such an impressive run for California Chrome over the last weeks starting with the KY Derby. His owner did not need to go off the way he did. It will forever tarnish the memories when people hear the name California Chrome."
I see both sides of this. "
The first being that the owner was a working class citizen, not a big honcho in the horse racing world. To see that his horse had a huge chance at winning the triple crown only to be defeated by a fresh horse, had to be heartbreaking. Emotions were sky high. And what I mean by a fresh horse is that Tonalist (the Belmont winner) did not run the 2 races before the Belmont. This may sound raunchy, but his wad wasn't almost blown by the time he stepped onto the racetrack like Chromes was. Racing takes a whole lot out of a horse and Chrome was up against a fresh horse. Coburn feels he will not see a Triple Crown win in his lifetime because of his age. I think it is possible for him still. Maybe not wth a horse he owns but you never know. "
On the other hand, the Triple Crown is not a race. It's a title that is given to those who win all three races. Tonalist did not run the Belmont to win the Triple Crown. He ran it to win the Belmont and that was it. Coburn feels that if the horse didn't run the first 2, then it should not be able to run at all. Well, there are rules as to how you can enter into the races and if a particular horse didn't qualify for the first 2 races for whatever reason (age, points accumulated, etc) until it was time for the Belmont, then it should have been allowed to enter into it because he did qualify for that one. The Triple Crown is not like the NCAA tournaments where you advance to the next match up when you win. The races are independent of each other and if you are lucky enough to win all three, then you get to walk away with the prestigious title. "
So with that said, Coburn needed to be a gracious loser and accept the fact that his horse had a bad day at the races. California Chrome has no idea what happened or what's going on with all the talk, but he is the one I feel bad for. He would have gone down in history right along with Secretariat. Secretariat won all 3 races in record time and Chrome had the chance to have broken the record long 36 year drought. "
Congrats to #11 Tonalist for winning the Belmont. Here's a shoulda, woulda, coulda .... a minute before the race started, I told my friend to watch #11. It was calling my name but unfortunately, he was not on my ticket.