California Chrome: The Horse that Horse Racing Needs, Not the One it Deserves

California Chrome ran away with it at the Kentucky Derby

NOTE: The following is an attempt to write about a sport that America cares about only 3 times every year. It is an incredibly uninformed post, but it is speaking for all of you: the American public who is ready to fall in love with horse racing.

The Kentucky Derby is referred to as the "most exciting 2 minutes in sports."  That is a pretty bold statement for a sport that is unknown to most of the country, and is mostly treated as an excuse for college frat boys to get drunk and pretend to know about the pedigree and training of thoroughbred horses.  This is by no means an indictment on said frat boys.  It is a plea for more people to follow this sport.

Horse Racing is a sport that is currently based around copious alcohol consumption and degenerates gambling their lives away, all under the veil of a sophisticated society.  They dress nicely, wear big hats and come from an incredible amount of family money, but the real fans of Horse Racing are no different than you and I.

The Kentucky Derby was run last Saturday, May 3, on the first Saturday in May as it is every year. The Run for the Roses is the most historic race in thoroughbred racing and is an excuse for the rich and famous to come out and party; under the veil of high class.  Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Wes Welker and other athletic A-listers joined the party, and had the opportunity to witness arguably the best horse of the last decade walk to a Derby title.

California Chrome was the odds on favorite to win the Run for the Roses and went off at 5/2.  The favorite for most of the year, the 3 year old Colt came into Churchill Downs as a huge name after blowing away the field at the Santa Anita Derby.  Oddsmakers and fans of the sport said that California Chrome was and is the best chance for a Triple Crown winner in recent memory.  California Chrome made the race look easy, and jockey Victor Espinoza guided the Colt seamlessly around the track.  It was a beautiful site that is drastically under appreciated in current society.

A horse has not won the Triple Crown since Affirmed did it in 1978.  Many have said it was impossible, that it could not be done anymore, that too many horses are too fast to get beaten three times consecutively. (That is what I imagine they would say, who the heck actually knows).  I write to you, to implore you to root for California Chrome to win the Preakness Stakes in May, and then the Belmont in June.  Horse Racing is a sport that is an excuse for the rich and famous to gamble and drink excessively, without anybody judging.  Everybody should treat each race like that, gamble their lives away (don't actually do that, I can't have that on my conscience) and have a grand ole time.

California Chrome is the exception and not the rule, and a Triple Crown possibility like this cannot merely fall by the wayside.