Billy Turner is rooting for Big Brown in Belmont Stakes on Saturday. As the only living trainer of a Triple Crown champion, he would like Maryland native Rick Dutrow to join the exclusive club.
"It has been a long time," Turner said. "It's time for somebody to win the Triple Crown, or it will get too discouraging to try."
In 1977, Turner's horse, Seattle Slew, became the 10th winner of the Triple Crown. At the time, Turner trained his horses in Harford County, and he still trains at Belmont Park.
"It's getting pretty lonely up here," said Turner, 68. "The year after Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, there was a luncheon for Triple Crown winners. Laz Barrera, who trained Affirmed; Lucien Laurin, who trained Secretariat; Jimmy Jones, who had Citation; and myself were all there.
"It was fun," he said. "A lot of fun. ... If they held a luncheon today, it would be just me. The food would be good, but the conversation would be pretty boring."
Dutrow will try to earn a luncheon invitation when he sends Big Brown to post in the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown, who easily won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness to improve to 5-0, is not unlike the big, almost black son of Bold Reasoning, who came out of the Belmont with a glistening 9-0 record.
Seattle Slew died on May 7, 2002, at age 28. But as a 3-year-old, he was much like Big Brown, wanting to do too much on the racetrack. And Turner, like Dutrow, was careful not to overwork him.
Besides their talent, the two horses also share the distinction of being undefeated going into the race, something shared with two other horses, Majestic Prince, 9-0 before the Belmont in 1969, and Smarty Jones, 8-0 before the race in 2004. Neither could keep his record perfect.
Now Big Brown will try.
A glorious day
June 11, 1977, the day Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, was a perfect day for horse racing. Clear skies, a light breeze and temperatures hovering near 70 degrees. A fast Belmont track waited. A huge crowd of fans and reporters looked on.
"I enjoyed it," Turner said. "The coverage of horse racing was probably at its peak then. There was still the excitement of Secretariat a few years before, and Seattle Slew built on that. Every newspaper had one or two people covering the Triple Crown. Howard Cosell was there. I met so many people. It's not the same today. Sad in a way."
