Thoroughbred racing crowned its 12th Triple Crown winner Saturday afternoon, and this one was one of a kind.
When Thunder Gulch won the 127th running of the Belmont, his 59-year-old trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, became the first to capture the sport’s crown jewels with two horses.
The dark glasses that Lukas wore in the winner’s circle hid the tears that accompanied his fifth straight triumph in a Triple Crown race, an unprecedented accomplishment bathed in blood and sweat.
“It hit me when I was walking through the grandstand after the race,” said Lukas. “It got to me. It means a lot.”
He did it his way and he did it the hard way.
The first two chapters in this amazing success story were written in last year’s Preakness and Belmont by Tabasco Cat, the colt who trampled and nearly killed his beloved son and most valued assistant, Jeff Lukas, in a December, 1993, catastrophe outside his Santa Anita barn.
Then, Thunder Gulch won this spring’s Kentucky Derby, relegating to third-place stablemate Timber Country, considered by Lukas to be the best prospect in his training career: “If you were asked to define what a Triple Crown horse is you would describe Timber Country.”
In the Preakness, Timber Country lived up to Lukas’ great expectations by winning decisively, this time forcing Thunder Gulch to settle for third.
But Friday afternoon the trainer discovered Timber Country was running a fever, leaving him no alternative but to take the colt out of the Belmont and administer medication.
“It was a jolt,” said Lukas. “I had knots in my stomach. But it’s just a temporary setback. We’ve had greater and bounced back.
“You have to have an unbelievable work ethic. It’s seven days a week. You also have to have a strong feel for it–there are no manuals, no clinics. And I think it’s important to have a bad memory. There are so many setbacks. They will eat you up if you let them.”
In the absence of Timber Country, Thunder Gulch inherited the role of the favorite in the field of 11, going off at odds of 3-2.
As ordered by trainer Nick Zito, jockey Julie Krone sent Star Standard veering across the track from the outside post position to beat the other front-runner, Wild Syn, to the early lead.
Thunder Gulch embarked on the 1 1/2-mile journey from the No. 10 post position. After an anxious moment at the outset, jockey Gary Stevens nestled the Derby winner a couple of lengths behind the leaders.
“I read the quotes where Nick Zito said he was going to tell Julie to take a left turn out of the gate, which is pretty much what she did,” said Stevens. “I had to steady off her heels. But then he settled and got in rhythm. I knew we were going very slow but I wasn’t concerned.”
Star Standard is a grandson of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat and a son of 1988 Preakness and Belmont winner Risen Star, but in this race he did a tortoise imitation. His fractional times were :24 2/5 for the quarter, :50 1/5 for the half, 1:15 1/5 for three-quarters and 1:40 1/5 for the mile.
Meanwhile, Krone was engaged in a tug-of-war with Star Standard, trying her best to keep the headstrong pacesetter from pulling from the rail to the outside.
Thunder Gulch made his challenging move entering the stretch, moving abreast of Star Standard.
As they raced down the stretch Star Standard came out and bumped Thunder Gulch.
“The bumping was severe enough that I would have had to claim foul,” said Stevens.
Undaunted, Thunder Gulch retaliated by taking the lead and drawing away to defeat runner-up Star Standard by 2 lengths and pay $5, $3.70 and $2.90. Despite his wayward tendencies, Star Standard finished 3 1/2 lengths in front of third-place Citadeed.
Running on a fast track, Thunder Gulch went under the finish line in 2:32, making this the slowest Belmont since 1970 when High Echelon plodded home in 2:34 on a sloppy surface.
But the race didn’t belong to the swift. It and the Triple Crown belonged to D. Wayne Lukas.
