Last Saturday, the Kentucky Derby winner handled the pouring rain, a sloppy track and seven other horses in the Preakness to take the second leg of the Triple Crown and keep horse racing relevant in America for three more weeks. My buddy, Jack, was there in the winner’s circle, getting his suit drenched and cashing a $25,000 win bet. The water and the mud destroyed his dress shoes, but it is my understanding that the sole purpose of gambling is to win money for new shoes, so he should be just fine. American Pharaoh is back at Churchill Downs where he will stay until he ships to New York, a few days before the Belmont Stakes. A win in his next race will make him the first to conquer the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, and bring a level of fame that is rarely bestowed upon a horse. I hope he does it, but I wouldn’t bet on it. There have been twelve horses to run in the Belmont with a shot at the Triple Crown since Affirmed won it, all of them have fallen short. Some had rough trips, some were just barely beaten but all of them failed to do what they did in Kentucky and Maryland, cross the finish line first.

The Triple Crown races all originated in the 19th century but the term did not appear until the 1920’s. The races were not always run in the same progression we have them today, nor were they run at the same distances they are today. One winner took the Preakness just four days after winning the Kentucky Derby, and another champion ran the Preakness two weeks before the Kentucky Derby. Many horses even ran in other races between the Triple Crown races. One Triple Crown winner lost a race between the Preakness and Belmont, making him a champion over a period of time where he never won more than two consecutive races.

Those were much different times. Today, the thought of a trainer running a horse in all three Triple Crown races as well as another race in between is inconceivable. Maybe it’s because we place a higher value on the life of a horse today, or maybe it’s because almost every horse in America runs on lasix, a drug that prevents bleeding from the nose but is also thought to cause dehydration. Whatever the reason, American Pharoah will likely be the only race horse to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown while every other top three year old will get a few extra weeks of rest.

I might be one of the only horse racing fans to say this, but I would love to see Bob Baffert not run American Pharoah in the Belmont as much as I would love to see him win the Triple Crown. If a Triple Crown were not on the line, no trainer would run his horse in the Belmont three weeks after racing twice in two weeks. Modern horses do not run as often, and the mile and half distance of the Belmont is a quarter mile longer than any other major horse race in America. No major owners, trainers or breeders give a damn about a horse’s ability in a mile and half race. There is plenty of money to be made sprinting and most of the races with the biggest purses are run between a mile and a mile and a quarter. How a horse runs beyond a mile and a quarter is meaningless, except in the Belmont Stakes.

The Triple Crown is a construct of the media. Horse races are run in America every day of the week, and every weekend there are big money races, but not many people care. There are many major races run before and after the Triple Crown that have large purses and are restricted to three year olds, but it is only these three particular races for three year olds that grab all the attention. Sometimes the best horse is unable to run in all three races due to an injury or training setback, but that is irrelevant to the public. If an inferior horse wins a Triple Crown while a superior horse is injured, the inferior horse will always be remembered as a champion, even if the better horse comes back to beat the Triple Crown winner repeatedly in future races. All the hype and preparation can come down to how a horse is feeling in this five-week period of his life.

Everyone agrees that a Triple Crown winner would be good for horse racing, but we are evolving into a population that also cares about whether the Triple Crown is good for the horse, and that is not so clear. As I have written before, fast horses are worth lots of money, so I don’t have an overall moral objection to how they are treated. No idiot would pay six figures for a horse and then treat it poorly. The best owners and trainers of horses are like the best business owners and managers; they know that keeping their talent happy is the best way to get positive results. But this is one of the few times where the happiness of the talent can take a back seat to history. There is only one shot at this, competition is ruthless and the historical significance is huge. In a normal situation, when a top quality horse has won three big races in six weeks, including two big races in the last two weeks, the trainer would give him a little time off before his next race. When the last two races were the longest of the horse’s life and as long as the future big money races are, the trainer would definitely not consider another race at a longer distance three weeks later. If the owner or Baffert doesn’t run American Pharoah in the Belmont absent an obvious injury, they will be poor sports. If the horse get badly injured in the race and has to be euthanized, they will be vilified. And we, the public, will unquestionably live with ourselves in either circumstance because it is someone else’s fault. If the horse is doing well, I hope they run him, but one time in my life I would like to see an owner or trainer skip the Belmont with a healthy horse while the Triple Crown is on the line because they don’t owe the public anything and they just want to do what is best for the horse.

The general public combines an uncanny willingness to find a scapegoat with a lack of willingness to do any soul searching when the shit hits the fan. A great recent example is when TMZ released recordings of a known racist, Donald Sterling, rambling about his prejudices to his mistress. It created a public uproar that I had expected for a while, but eventually figured would never come. I came to dislike Donald Sterling when he was involved in the largest housing discrimination lawsuit in America. Several articles were written with links to depositions that Sterling has given. In those depositions, it is clear that this man is sexist, racist, elitist and a dishonest businessman. In his depositions, he talks about women like they are less than him. In his business dealings, he will not pay out what he guaranteed in a contract and makes others sue him to get what he agreed to pay. I understand that some people have to take whatever job they can get and cannot afford to investigate everyone that offers a paycheck, but when a guy is paying you millions that you can get elsewhere and it’s public knowledge that he’s an awful jackass, you shouldn’t be so righteously indignant when it comes out that he is who he is.

Beyond loving the Lakers, during the Sterling era I had legitimate moral objections to being a Clipper fan. I didn’t judge any of their fans or picket the team but I didn’t feel comfortable getting behind a team owned by a man who had done what he has, and made the statements that he made. In the aftermath of the TMZ tapes, public opinion turned on Sterling, and rightfully so, but why didn’t the outrage come after his other statements were made public that were just as offensive? Perhaps it is because reading a deposition is boring and listening to a quick audio sound bite is more compelling or because more people care about what’s on TMZ, but men who had to bite their tongue to cash a paycheck were now able to condemn their boss with impunity. I have no problem with society treating Sterling like the animal that he is, but shouldn’t we also look at ourselves just a little bit? Shouldn’t the people who cashed his checks ask themselves why they did, and why our society allowed this man to be in a position to write such big checks? Shouldn’t the people who bought season tickets feel bad for contributing to this man’s profits? I don’t think any individual should shoulder the blame for letting this guy hang around as long as he did, but we should admit that we are all a little at fault. Everyone could have done more to change the situation; we should do more self-examination and spend more energy working to prevent similar situations. But instead most people are content to condemn an individual and go on living without a second thought.

When Doc Rivers claimed he had no idea about Sterling’s past, was that a reasonable excuse? Didn’t he have some responsibility to look into the shady dealings of his potential employer? Maybe you don’t get to work a job that pays millions of dollars if you aren’t prepared to look the other way when it is convenient. I found Blake Griffin’s comments on the situation to be the most constructive. As a draft pick, he had no choice in what team picked him, but when he knew he was going to the Clippers, he did some research. A quick Google search of Sterling will tell you everything you need to know about him. Griffin knew the old man was a senile bigot, but that was public knowledge and no one else seemed to care so that’s what he had to deal with to fulfill his dream of playing in the NBA.

I believe that a conscientious consumer base is one of the best ways to affect change. The public outrage at Sterling led to a fairly rapid downfall and that is good. But I think we should all be a little more proactive as fans and customers, especially when we are giving our hard earned money to billionaires.

Reserved seating for the Belmont Stakes on June 6th is already sold out. NBC is planning their coverage and preparing a marathon of special interest pieces. The media and the public are hungry for a Triple Crown winner and when such a rare feat is close at hand, moral examination fades to the background. If we all just stopped caring about whether a three year-old horse can win three specific races each Spring, American Pharoah could get some rest and come back for Summer’s big races that lead up to the Breeder’s Cup in the fall, where the biggest race is worth more than double the amount of any of the Triple Crown races. But his breeding rights have just been sold, and market prices are set by irrational individuals, so having the first Triple Crown winner since the 1970’s would send his stud fees through the roof. American Pharoah can rest later, right now he needs to stay sound and find a way to finish one lap around the Belmont track before his competition so that he can make a huge crowd celebrate and help a rich owner get richer. And if something unfortunate happens along the way, we all will know who to blame, anyone but us.