Photo from Google Images
The Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, ended the dream of winning the Triple Crown on Saturday with an 8th place finish at the Preakness. With a late come from behind win, Cloud Computing stole the Preakness and crashed the party planning for the Belmont.
With a 13-1 shot, no one saw Cloud Computing beating the heavy favorite with 3-2 odds, Always Dreaming. Cloud Computing had never won a major race and skipped the Derby. He was fresh for the Preakness and it paid off for the horse who only raced three times. There is no definite answers if Cloud Computing will skip the Belmont in three weeks on his home track in New York.
If a horse wins both the Derby and the Preakness, the Belmont’s mile and a half lap is not only America’s biggest racetrack, but the race becomes an international event where crowds over a 100 thousand come out for the chance to witness an historic event. The bigger impact is on how not having a race for the Triple Crown affects the Belmont. Attendance falls almost 50% when there is not a Triple Crown contender. Not just attendance at the track, but on TV and at the betting booth.
One place where the betting will not be down is the St.Clair household. Our family pool doubled when none of us had Cloud Computing winning making the Belmont double or nothing. For a family that randomly draws names out of a hat with a $5 buy in, we are pretty serious about our betting. Mom won the Derby and was ready to run a victory lap when she got Always Dreaming and Classic Empire. My Dad wanted a re-draw and then he ran the victory lap because my mom didn’t beat him, again.
Always Dreaming finished 8th (out of 10). It was the worst finish in Preakness by Derby winner since Super Saver in 2010. Both Super Saver and Always Dreaming were trained by Todd Pletcher.
Regardless of the Triple Crown you should still watch the Belmont on June 10th. In the words of my Dad, The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes are the most exciting two minutes in sports.