There was a time, not that long ago, when thoroughbred racing started and ended in New York, or at least that's what most East Coast race fans, trainers and owners thought.
Belmont Park on Long Island and Saratoga in upstate New York were believed to be where all the champions trained and raced. Aqueduct, New York's base for winter racing, was a place to go between meets at Belmont and Saratoga.
Gulfstream Park in South Florida is an acceptable alternative during the icy months of winter, along with Arkansas' Oaklawn Park, which has probably grown to be top three in the world of horse racing during the early spring.
Years ago, West Coast racing was for those afraid to compete with the superior trainers and horses in New York.
The snobbery toward racing in California was obvious in the book and movie Seabiscuit and lived long after that undersized champion leveled the great 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral in a 1938 match race at Pimlico.
Racing's base of power began to shift west in the 1980s.
Santa Anita -- with its beautiful setting, wonderful weather and wealthy owners, along with the success of trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert -- became the industry leader, barely.
Yes, there was only one true Santa Anita horse in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, and that was Santa Anita Derby winner Gormley, who finished fourth in the Belmont.
But five other Southern California horses, four of those trained by Baffert, won races on the undercard. Three of those races were listed as Grade I, top of the line.
The final leg of the Triple Crown is certainly the most challenging.
The 3-year-olds are taking on 1½ miles, one lap around the giant oval known as "Big Sandy," with a stretch run that would tire Usain Bolt. It is 1,097 feet of difference-maker.
Saturday's 11-horse field included horses with varied amounts of success, but none had made it to the winner's circle in the Triple Crown.
A crowd of nearly 60,000 came to see favored Irish War Cry, winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, stake a claim to some of the old glory.
Irish War Cry's owner, De Tomaso Isabelle, paid $150,000 to breed the mare Irish Sovereign to Curlin, expecting blue- blood results and for the majority of the race it looked like he was going to notch one of racing's biggest prizes.
Irish War Cry made the lead, set some energy conserving fractions, which basically took the late-running closers out of the race.
By midway through the final turn, anyone who wasn't wishing they had bet a bundle on the 7-2 favorite should have been.
He was looking like Gen. George Patton after 6 furlongs, and still in control at a mile, timed in 1:38.95, which was more than four seconds slower than the late, great Secretariat ran in 1973.
Secretariat is one of the few horses who went into the Belmont looking strong, and then got stronger with every stride, to the point where the other horses weren't in the TV picture. He won by 31 lengths.
Irish War Cry's lead was not nearly as large, and then came the final 1,097 feet, a stretch of track that has ruined Triple Crown hopes and forced many a runner into retirement.
At 1¼ miles, the distance of the Kentucky Derby, Irish War Cry looked like a winner, and then fatigue hit him as if he ran face first into the Great Wall of China.
Tapwrit, safely tucked away to Irish War Cry's outside, made his move and blew the doors off Irish War Cry.
Tapwrit, trained by New York-based Todd Pletcher and a son of the great sire Tapit, was bred for the distance, something that was obvious to every person watching at Belmont and to the millions watching on TV.
When he finally stopped he had found his place in racing history, winning the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Sports on 06/11/2017