Belmont 150

A couple days before Justify swept the Triple Crown, I spent an enjoyable hour watching TVG's The Best of the Belmont show.  This was nothing more than a series of race replays book-ended with a few facts about that entrants in each of the featured Belmonts. 

No surprise, Secretariat's 1973 thirty one length route was the opening act.

photo by Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated

This was followed by Affirmed's 1978 duel with Alydar. 

After that came Swale, Risen Star, Easy Goer, A.P. Indy, Colonial Affair, Touch Gold, Victory Gallop, Point Given, Birdstone, Rags to Riches, Tonalist and finally, American Pharoah.

For me, this program was as much This is Your Life as it was racing history. Each time the horses loaded into the gate, I remembered where I'd watched the race, who'd I'd cheered for and what was going on in my life that year. 

On Saturday, Justify won the 2018 Belmont Stakes.

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

What I will remember about this race is that I watched it at home, with my family. I was cheering for Justify, and this was the year that Carol was living with us in preparation for her move to Germany. Carol doesn't really follow racing, but since she is a big Mike Smith fan, she was as delighted with the outcome as I was.

Thank you, Justify, for making a hard month a whole lot happier. This was a good Belmont. I look forward to watching it again and again in the years to come.