The following column, “He Was Named for Aly, Darling,” by Red Smith, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, appeared in The New York Times on March 24, 1978, and is from “To the Swift: Classic Triple Crown Horses and Their Race for Glory” (St. Martin’s Press), edited by Joe Drape.

HIALEAH, Fla. — The tack boxes spaced along the shedrow at Barn AA are painted red and blue, the devil’s red and deep blue of Calumet Farm’s racing silks. These are the colors Whirlaway and Citation carried when they swept the Triple Crown races of 1941 and 1948. They are the colors flown by Pensive and Ponder and Hill Gail and Iron Liege and Tim Tam when those good ones dashed home first in the Kentucky Derby.

The red and blue silks have never disappeared from the winner’s circle, but after a disqualification made by Forward Pass the farm’s eighth Derby winner, they were seen there less and less frequently until last year. In 1977, Calumet’s Our Mims was the best 3-year-old filly in the country and her young stablemate, Alydar, just missed out as the champion 2-year-old. Beaten out by Affirmed in that election, the colt came back this year to win Hialeah’s Flamingo Stakes like breaking sticks, and—with Affirmed spending the winter in California—consolidated his position as the Eastern favorite for the Derby. He will hold that rank until April 1, at least, that being the date of the Florida Derby at Gulfstream, his next assignment.

Continue reading...

Right now, Bill Turner is the only living trainer of a Triple Crown winner. His horse, the great Seattle Slew, was undefeated in nine races, a streak that ended with his Belmont Stakes win in 1977. Bill might lose that distinction June 7, if Big Brown takes the Belmont, but for now the reporters are still dropping by his barn in the mornings, asking whether he thinks Big Brown will win, or just collecting memories of that past Triple Crown campaign.

Bill's whole life has been about horses. Born in 1940, he grew up in the fox hunting country of southeast Pennsylvania. After a detour through veterinary school at Emory University in Atlanta, he briefly tried a career as a steeplechase jockey, then worked as an assistant to Hall of Fame jump trainer Burley Cocks before going out on his own in 1966. His first winner, Salerno, was also his first stakes winner, taking the Remsen in 1967.

Read more...

Rick Dutrow doesn’t mince words.

“I think that it’s our race to lose,” Dutrow said. “I think that he is the best horse in the race and I think if he breaks with the field, he’ll win the race.”

He also is right. I’m rooting for Big Brown to pull into Belmont with a shot at a Triple Crown and immortality. Still, there are a couple in here who have a remote shot at upsetting if Big Brown is off his game. At the least, this trio of 30-1 shots should be considered in the exotics.

My younger colleague Melissa boldly picks Icabad Crane on top. This is an improving colt with a win over the racetrack in the Tesio. He caught Mint Lane at the wire, and Mint Lane returned to run second in the Peter Pan to Casino Drive, the very large and talented colt in from Japan and aiming for the Belmont Stakes.

Continue reading...