Can Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo win the Triple Crown?
Common sense says no possible way. First, take a look at the Kentucky Derby. Anticipated in advance as one of the deepest, most intriguingraces in recent history, it played out as theater of the absurd. The most accomplished horses in the field were cooked by a suicidal early pace. The field went through 3/4 of a mile in 1:09.59, equaling the second-fastest first six furlongs in Derby history. Of the first five horses in the race at that interval, none finished better than seventh; Giacomo was in 18th place. When the field turned into Churchill Downs’ long homestretch, the horses stopped running and began staggering. To the naked eye, Giacomo appeared to storm through the lane with a withering finish. In fact, the last quarter mile was the slowest in 34 years and the last half mile the most leisurely in 31 years. Giacomo was slowing down less than everybody else, but not by much. It was a bizarre race. “When you’ve got a 20-horse field and a fast pace, anything can happen out there,”
