Three-year old division is all Clouded up

THREE-YEAR OLD DIVISION IS ALL CLOUDED UP

So what did the Preakness tell us about the three-year old male division in 2017? After a thrilling finish and things were all added up…there was Cloud Computing.

What do we mean by our previous statement? Enough questions, let’s get down to answers. The omens of horse racing struck again when a lightly raced colt took the 142^nd run at Pimlico on May 20. This has been a very unpredictable year in this division as upsets and injury have been the norm in a wild ride since the calendar turned. Many have tried to add things up to figure where the real power lies, but the Computing of it all has been Clouded as nobody has been able to see a clear-cut front runner. It looked as if Always Dreaming might be the one after a spectacular Kentucky Derby run had folks chirping about the Triple Crown possibilities. And then along came Cloud Computing to muddle up our ciphering.

In just the fourth race of his career, this Chad Brown trained son of Maclean’s Music stalked a reasonably hot pace and finished with a huge move in deep stretch. In gaining his second win with one second and one third overall, Cloud Computing proved just how competitive the sport of Thoroughbred racing is today.

The competition must be viewed as a good thing. Average fans should not be discouraged because there is no “Babe Ruth” in the ranks of the division this year. The “any given Saturday” (actually the name of a prominent runner turned sire) mentality makes for plenty of excitement and some nice payouts ( $1 superfecta at the Derby was $75k, at Preakness was $8k). Winning is always good, trips to the circle on those “big” days seems to validate, that’s why certain races can be targeted. The Triple Crown is perhaps the toughest accomplishment in all of sports. It takes something special to win all three and horsemen understand this. Therefor some choose to aim for one of these races instead of all three. Cloud Computing had enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, his team just chose to run in the Preakness because they thought he had a better shot at Pimlico. There was nothing clouded about that computing.

The three race series for three-year old males that gains most of the national notoriety is but a small fraction of what is an exciting season. Races down the road like the Matt Winn, Jim Dandy, Haskell, and Travers all carry significance for sure. Don’t be discouraged because there is not one heavy hitter dropping bombs. Be encouraged by the fact there are a lot of good swingers that add up to some crooked numbers in many ways. Cloud Computing may have won the Preakness while Always Dreaming finished eighth, but the sun is still shining in a wonderful sport.