I thought for sure this was going to be the year, because of my track record of never having seen a Triple Crown winner take the Belmont while the race was actually happening. When Secretariat won the Belmont in 1973, I was on a YMCA caravan in Ensenada, Mexico. When Seattle Slew won the Belmont in 1977, I was working And when Affirmed won the Belmont the following year, I was in Hawaii on our high school graduation trip, and because of the time difference we got confused as to when the race would be shown on TV and I missed it again.
I've since watched 11 colts win the first two legs of the Triple Crown and fail to close the deal in the Belmont. So when I realized his year that - because of work - I wasn't going to be able to watch the race, I figured that was the clincher - I'll Have Another was going to make history.
Alas, it is not to be, as he became only the second colt to be scratched in the Belmont after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown. And it appears that he'll never race again, which means (once again) that we'll be denied the thrill of seeing a Triple Crown, and horse racing will continue its inexorable slide out of the public's attention.
Sad. But it's good to know that I wasn't the jinx all these years.
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