Triple Crown Missed

At this Triple Crown time of year, I am reminded again of one of many years ago. No, not that of Secretariat, who won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, all three for only the ninth time, in 1973, and, amazingly, all three in going-away record times that stand even today unmet. No not that of Affirmed, who in 1978 thrillingly outdueled Alydar head-to-head to the wire in each of the Triple Crown races, winning all three by the closest of margins. Poor Alydar, remembered for losing. No other horses in any of those races matter to history. And, there are not any books to recommend that equal the excitement of simply watching video reruns on-line. Maybe video is best for sports heroes, not books.

There are no video reruns to watch of Kelso running in the Triple Crown races of 1960, when he was an eligible but unruly three-year-old. He had already been gelded as a two-year-old, not an uncommon, unkind remedy at the time for rank behavior, although there may have been other reasons for gelding him. His first race in 1960, on June 22, came after all three Triple Crown races had already been run. Still, he went on to impress and win Horse of the Year in 1960 and did so again for four more years after that. He is considered one of the greatest of racing thoroughbreds based on his long and very successful career beyond that of a three-year-old. No immediate breeding for him, not like Triple Crown winners, the fate of being a gelding. No offspring by which to remember him. It is Kelso of whom I am reminded.

It is Kelso that I personally saw live exhibit that unruly behavior, launching himself upward on his hind legs out of the gate one racing day and going on to catch up with the field and beat them all to the wire. So, I am reminded of him, and the Triple Crown missed.

There are books and DVDs to be found within the Westmoreland Information Network about thoroughbred racing history, even mention of Kelso. Not a lot, and maybe all in all better found elsewhere on-line, even though I do not usually favor the often Wild West of on-line over curated Library. Also, in this instance, I hesitate to do too much memorializing of a racing horse, any horse, or an industry that is, at best, suspect these days for its inhumane treatment of racing horses in quest of a competitive edge.

In reflection about these things, I am reminded that there is a publication that I have never seen on a community Library browsing rack. It is the Daily Racing Form, which dates to 1894, serving the betting public with stats and histories of horses entered in daily races at tracks around the country. It is archived at Keenland Library, along with other racing memorabilia. “Established in 1939, the Keeneland Library is a reference and research library and the world’s largest repository of the Thoroughbred industry open to the public.” 

It is that very specialization on which I am reflecting, too, about there being a Library, it seems, for every purpose, here as arcane records about racehorses that only the few would seek. The fact that they are accessible when needed, or remembered, say at Triple Crown time, matters to a few only, maybe even only one.

So it is that today I am remembering Kelso and the Triple Crown missed, and finding reminders in specialized “Libraries.” They are important too.