There is some provincial thinking when you watch one of the national races and pull for a horse who ran at Oaklawn Park.
It should have been common sense not to overlook Creator in a field that was wide open, but apparently there wasn't much logic among the bettors at the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, when they let the winner of the Arkansas Derby go off at 16-1.
He broke cleanly and immediately dropped to the rail, then ran his race until the stretch. That's when the horse who was named after God ran like the devil was chasing him, winning by a nose at the wire.
The victory during the final leg of the Triple Crown brought back the memory of 1980 when Temperence Hill, also a winner of the Arkansas Derby, romped home the winner of this "Test of Champions" at 1½ miles.
Saying that year's pride of the old Loblolly Stable was a surprise winner would be like saying Las Vegas likes neon lights. Temperence Hill was sent off at 53-1, but by the time the year ended, the horse who was named after a small Methodist church attended by owner and Arkansan John Ed Anthony's ancestors was the 3-year-old of the year.
In 1980, the Triple Crown already had been split when filly Genuine Risk won the Kentucky Derby and Codex won the Preakness.
Saturday's Belmont capped Triple Crown races that were likewise divided. Derby winner Nyquist was back in California, leaving Preakness winner Exaggerator as the 6-5 favorite.
Mildly surprising was that Suddenbreakingnews was the second favorite. The late and hard-charging colt hadn't won since the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn. He had finished fifth in the Rebel and second in the Arkansas Derby, by more than a length behind Creator.
Suddenbreakingnews was a fast-closing fifth in the Kentucky Derby and, like all but three horses in Saturday's 13-horse field, had skipped the Preakness.
Joining Exaggerator on the hard grind of running three times in five weeks was Lani, a Japan-based colt who doesn't play well with others and has to be kept away from his competitors in the minutes leading up to the race.
As for Creator, it was like the bettors forgot he had more trouble in the Kentucky Derby than a hamburger in a steak-cooking contest when he finished 13th by 18 lengths, but he was checked, coming to almost a complete stop, and was still body-slammed in that race.
While everyone at Belmont and NBC did everything they could to capture some of last year's magic when American Pharoah broke the 37-year drought to win the Belmont and Triple Crown, this year's race quickly settled into a bettor's race as most set out to beat the favorite Exaggerator, whose three victories this year were on a wet track. The Belmont track was dry as a bone.
Creator, bred by Tapit, was a $440,000 purchase, but on Saturday, his earnings jumped to almost four times that.
Creator won the Arkansas Derby in a fashion similar to the way new jockey Irad Ortiz rode him Saturday. Going to the rail and saving ground was the strategy, but the pace was not torrid like at Oaklawn. Ortiz kept his mount out of trouble, and when he pulled the trigger, Creator fired.
In a strategic move, Winstar Farm had moved Gettysburg from trainer Todd Pletcher to Steve Asmussen for the 148th Belmont Stakes, and Gettysburg went to the front, set the pace and then got out of the way down the stretch.
Creator caught Destin at the wire; Lani was third.
It was just another jewel in the Oaklawn crown. Once again the track proved it hosts major prep races for Triple Crown winners, on a day when bettors basically forgot the horse named after God.
Sports on 06/12/2016