I am going to lay one thing out on the table right from the start: I am a relatively new fan to horse racing. I’ve been going to the track for about five years and following the sport closely at the national level for three.
I feel I need to lead with this because if I don’t, someone else will. It will be used to dismiss anything and everything I have to say about my opinions on racing or racehorses by way of a generalized sentiment that I’m pretending to know things I don’t, or more approximately that I have not yet earned the right to know or attempt to know anything. So let me make it abundantly clear: There is a lot I don’t know. But I know one thing long-time horse-players and venerated owners, trainers, and commentators do not and could never know: I know what it’s like to be a new fan to the sport in the last five years.
California Chrome’s ill-fated bid for the Triple Crown left me with considerably more questions than answers, but in the last week, one thing has become crystal clear: Possibly the only thing horse racing hates more than new money is new fans.
Let me explain.
Rogue at the Races 