CALIFORNIA CHROME HAD it all. The three-year-old thoroughbred won the Kentucky Derby last year. Two weeks later, he topped the field at the Preakness, becoming the only horse bred in the Golden State to ever win both races. Then, on June 7, 2014, he was about to run the Belmont Stakes, the final race in the so-called Triple Crown. The last horse to win all three of these races was Affirmed in 1978, but maybe Chrome had a chance to bring the title into the 21st century: The colt had a prime starting position, second in the gate. The odds were on his side, at 3-5. His legion of fans, the #Chromies, mustered on Twitter.
But Chrome fell short. Tying for fourth, he became the 13th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown only to fail in the third in almost 40 years. The winner at Belmont, Tonalist, hadn’t raced in the Derby or the Preakness, and in a post-race interview, Chrome’s co-owner Steve Coburn argued that the Triple Crown should be a closed circuit: No parachuting in to run the Belmont if you haven’t already run the previous races in the series. “It’s not fair to the horses that have been in the game since day one,” Coburn said. “It’s all or nothing. This is the coward’s way out.”
Coburn has a point. Post-race recovery is no joke for a thousand-pound animal that can run more than 40 miles per hour. There are two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. That tight schedule—and the super-specific needs of racehorses—means horses competing in the grueling back-to-back-to-back Triple Crown races have a big disadvantage against fresh horses.
If a horse eats well and stays hydrated, their glycogen and electrolyte levels should return to normal between each leg of the Triple Crown, but they might be able to recover faster and be in better form for training between races with improved electrolyte supplements. Unfortunately for American Pharoah and the other contenders, Pagan’s study just came out, so this development likely won’t impact the horses competing in the Belmont this year.
Healthy Muscles
In addition to being the last race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is also the longest. Some Derby contenders have never raced a mile and a quarter before, never mind the mile and a half they need to run for the Belmont Stakes. Most thoroughbreds also typically get three weeks to a month between tough races, while the Triple Crown allows for just a few weeks between each race.
<figure id="attachment_1790796" class="wp-caption landscape alignnone fader fade-in-up" data-js="fader" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 64px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; max-width: 100%; -webkit-transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); opacity: 1; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;">
Click to Open Overlay Gallery<figcaption class="wp-caption-text link-underline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px;"> WIRED</figcaption></figure>That’s no easy feat, even for a racehorse. When a horse runs a tough race (or has a new workout at a longer distance), its muscles break down. Then, during rest, they reknit and adapt. Your muscles do the same thing. “It’s a part of exercising at the top of their game,” Thunes says. “You have to give them time before ramping them up again over a new distance.” The trio of strenuous races combined with minimal downtime pushes horses to their limits. For many horses, the time between the Derby and Preakness might not be enough time to heal completely, leaving them with even more muscular damage to deal with before the Belmont.
But trainers who skip one or two of the earlier Triple Crown races can set their horses’ rest and workout schedule so they peak at a muscular (and mental) level for the Belmont. American Pharoah, for example, had to take it easy the week after the Preakness. His Belmont prep was a slow build-up from there, concluding with a fast mile and a half gallop on May 30 and a final workout at an easier pace and shorter distance on June 1. A horse that has skipped the Preakness, however, has the luxury of time. Mubtaahij, for example, who finished eighth in the Derby, had plenty of rest so he could be pushed for hard workouts two weeks prior to the Belmont. Now, his trainer hopes to keep his colt fresh by taking the week leading up to the race easy. Pharoah’s trainer is a pro, but having the time to relax and physically rebuild during this final week could make all the difference on race day.
Dem bones
At different points in its stride, a galloping horse puts all its weight on a single leg. That limb bears three times more weight than usual when galloping on a straightaway and, thanks to centrifugal force, a load five to 10 times greater on turns. This translates to skeletal microdamage.
That damage can manifest as anything from bone strain to microscopic cracks. “The skeleton is dynamic and the body is continually revitalizing the skeleton by removing damage and replacing it with healthy bone tissue,” says Sue Stover, a professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Luckily, the 3-year-olds that run the Triple Crown are young, healthy athletes with bodies that adapt faster than those of older horses, and “remodeling” ultimately makes bones stronger. But another side effect of Lasix, it turns out, is slower healing—they lose bone-building calcium, remember, through all that diuretic-induced pee. Even mild microdamage can manifest as discomfort or soreness, taking the edge off during competition. Bones also become weaker between the time when the body removes the damaged material and when it finishes rebuilding that area. Race a horse during that critical period and you increase the risk of serious injuries mid-race. A fresh horse won’t face any of those problems. Even a horse that ran in the Derby but skipped the Preakness will have five weeks to rest, and plenty of time for normal skeletal damage to repair, before the Belmont.
So, American Pharoah, it’d be awesome if you win the Triple Crown, but you probably won’t. It’s not your fault. It’s science and those pesky fresh horses. Frosted, for example, who came in fourth in the Derby and sat out the Preakness (and who happens to be a half-brother to last year’s Triple Crown buster, Tonalist, and is being ridden by the same jockey, too)is most likely to spoil the party. But that shouldn’t stop someone, hypothetically, from placing a hopeful bet.
But Chrome fell short. Tying for fourth, he became the 13th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown only to fail in the third in almost 40 years. The winner at Belmont, Tonalist, hadn’t raced in the Derby or the Preakness, and in a post-race interview, Chrome’s co-owner Steve Coburn argued that the Triple Crown should be a closed circuit: No parachuting in to run the Belmont if you haven’t already run the previous races in the series. “It’s not fair to the horses that have been in the game since day one,” Coburn said. “It’s all or nothing. This is the coward’s way out.”
Coburn has a point. Post-race recovery is no joke for a thousand-pound animal that can run more than 40 miles per hour. There are two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. That tight schedule—and the super-specific needs of racehorses—means horses competing in the grueling back-to-back-to-back Triple Crown races have a big disadvantage against fresh horses.
If a horse eats well and stays hydrated, their glycogen and electrolyte levels should return to normal between each leg of the Triple Crown, but they might be able to recover faster and be in better form for training between races with improved electrolyte supplements. Unfortunately for American Pharoah and the other contenders, Pagan’s study just came out, so this development likely won’t impact the horses competing in the Belmont this year.
Healthy Muscles
In addition to being the last race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is also the longest. Some Derby contenders have never raced a mile and a quarter before, never mind the mile and a half they need to run for the Belmont Stakes. Most thoroughbreds also typically get three weeks to a month between tough races, while the Triple Crown allows for just a few weeks between each race.
<figure id="attachment_1790796" class="wp-caption landscape alignnone fader fade-in-up" data-js="fader" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 64px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; max-width: 100%; -webkit-transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); opacity: 1; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;">
Click to Open Overlay Gallery<figcaption class="wp-caption-text link-underline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px;"> WIRED</figcaption></figure>That’s no easy feat, even for a racehorse. When a horse runs a tough race (or has a new workout at a longer distance), its muscles break down. Then, during rest, they reknit and adapt. Your muscles do the same thing. “It’s a part of exercising at the top of their game,” Thunes says. “You have to give them time before ramping them up again over a new distance.” The trio of strenuous races combined with minimal downtime pushes horses to their limits. For many horses, the time between the Derby and Preakness might not be enough time to heal completely, leaving them with even more muscular damage to deal with before the Belmont.But trainers who skip one or two of the earlier Triple Crown races can set their horses’ rest and workout schedule so they peak at a muscular (and mental) level for the Belmont. American Pharoah, for example, had to take it easy the week after the Preakness. His Belmont prep was a slow build-up from there, concluding with a fast mile and a half gallop on May 30 and a final workout at an easier pace and shorter distance on June 1. A horse that has skipped the Preakness, however, has the luxury of time. Mubtaahij, for example, who finished eighth in the Derby, had plenty of rest so he could be pushed for hard workouts two weeks prior to the Belmont. Now, his trainer hopes to keep his colt fresh by taking the week leading up to the race easy. Pharoah’s trainer is a pro, but having the time to relax and physically rebuild during this final week could make all the difference on race day.
Dem bones
At different points in its stride, a galloping horse puts all its weight on a single leg. That limb bears three times more weight than usual when galloping on a straightaway and, thanks to centrifugal force, a load five to 10 times greater on turns. This translates to skeletal microdamage.
That damage can manifest as anything from bone strain to microscopic cracks. “The skeleton is dynamic and the body is continually revitalizing the skeleton by removing damage and replacing it with healthy bone tissue,” says Sue Stover, a professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Luckily, the 3-year-olds that run the Triple Crown are young, healthy athletes with bodies that adapt faster than those of older horses, and “remodeling” ultimately makes bones stronger. But another side effect of Lasix, it turns out, is slower healing—they lose bone-building calcium, remember, through all that diuretic-induced pee. Even mild microdamage can manifest as discomfort or soreness, taking the edge off during competition. Bones also become weaker between the time when the body removes the damaged material and when it finishes rebuilding that area. Race a horse during that critical period and you increase the risk of serious injuries mid-race. A fresh horse won’t face any of those problems. Even a horse that ran in the Derby but skipped the Preakness will have five weeks to rest, and plenty of time for normal skeletal damage to repair, before the Belmont.
So, American Pharoah, it’d be awesome if you win the Triple Crown, but you probably won’t. It’s not your fault. It’s science and those pesky fresh horses. Frosted, for example, who came in fourth in the Derby and sat out the Preakness (and who happens to be a half-brother to last year’s Triple Crown buster, Tonalist, and is being ridden by the same jockey, too)is most likely to spoil the party. But that shouldn’t stop someone, hypothetically, from placing a hopeful bet.
