Belmont Stakes: Orb vs. Oxbow, But Triple Crown Isn't At Stake
By Mike Cardillo
Another year goes by and we won’t have a Triple Crown-winner in horse racing. Somehow life manages to go on. You have to go all the way back to Affirmed in 1978 for a horse who won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Oddly enough Seattle Slew accomplished the feat in 1977, but now we’ve had to wait more than three full decades (and counting) for another.
Today the final jewel of the Triple Crown goes off in Elmont, N.Y. (6:20 p.m. post time, NBC), but without the chance for history. If you’re an actual fan of horse racing, today’s race is the next best thing since it pits Derby winner Orb against Preakness victor Oxbow. There are 14 horses in the 1.5 mile race this year, one of the largest fields in its 145-year history.
It rained for about 24 hours in the New York area Friday into Saturday, which could make for a sloppy track. If any of the horses, “loves the slop” it could be their day to shine.
Anyways, the Belmont is a good reminder to run this clip from five years ago from former WFAN host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo delighting in the fact he would ‘wear the black hat with relish’ rooting against Big Brown winning the Triple Crown that June. There’s something funny about an adult getting this worked up to root against an animal.
[Photo by Getty]