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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Even though he didn't win the Triple Crown, I believe a horse will do it again someday. |
California
Chrome had already won six big races—including the Kentucky Derby and the
Preakness Stakes—before he entered the starting gate to run the Belmont Stakes on
June 7, 2014. He was already in the hearts of thousands, if not millions, of
racing fans for proving that the Underdog can, indeed, come out on top. But when
he crossed the finish line in fourth place instead of first, fans of American thoroughbred
horse racing were reminded again that we must wait at least one more year for a
horse to win the Triple Crown. The collective hopes and dreams shared by so
many people that the big chestnut colt would end at least one drought in
California, turned to dust. Why, oh why, is earning the title “Triple Crown
Winner” so important to so many people?
Because, it is, is such a pithy answer;
but it rings so true. Even sports pundits who are not particularly fans of
horse racing have conceded that winning the Triple Crown is an extremely
difficult, athletic challenge. How many other sports can only boast 11
all-around champions since its inception? The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes
and Belmont Stakes races weren’t officially classified as a series until 1930,
but a three-year-old colt named Sir Barton was the first three-year-old colt to
win all three races in 1919. Affirmed was the last and most recent horse to
accomplish this feat in 1978. During my lifetime, three horses have run and won
the Triple Crown, but I was too young to watch, let alone appreciate, what
Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed accomplished. California Chrome was the
first horse I had been rooting for to win since May 3, 2014, when he entered
the gate at the Churchill Downs. Yes, I felt the sting of disappointment when
the colt didn’t blast past the competition as he had done in the previous
races. But I also noticed the dull, familiar ache of resolute acceptance
seeping into my body after Belmont Stakes was over: there would be no Triple
Crown this year. Not yet.
In
some ways, this resolution disturbed me more than my disappointment. Was I becoming
inured to the expectation that so many people have expressed over the years,
that there may never be another
Triple Crown-winner? I certainly felt annoyed when I read and heard
sportscasters comment that a Triple Crown might even be “bad” for racing. They
theorized that because so much of people’s enjoyment of horse racing came from
hoping that this would be The Year a colt won the Crown, those same people
would lose interest once he actually swept the series. I would cry “foul” to
that theory: first, three horses brought home the title during the 1970s—including
two in a row (Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978). People were still
very excited about racing back then. Second, since racing is a betting sport,
it is very good for fans (bettors) to “win” from time to time. The occasional
win is what keeps people coming back (and back) for more.
For
the thirty-sixth time in as many years, a new Triple Crown champion wasn’t crowned
yesterday. California Chrome’s owners, trainers, jockey and fans had different
explanations and observations about why it didn’t happen for the colt. I would like
to suggest a different hypothesis which, while it doesn’t address how the race
was run, it does explore how our (fans’) subconscious minds are processing the
Belmont Stakes’ outcome. Two subconscious knowns
seemed to have gained traction in racing. The first was how quickly I—and the people
I saw interviewed about the race—was able to resolve myself to the
disappointment of California Chrome’s fourth-place finish. The second was how
many people said that winning another Triple Crown might not only be an impossible
feat, but it could be bad for racing. (This sentiment was expressed before the
race as well as after it was over.) According to John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of
Mind, repetition of a behavior or a thought eventually becomes a known in the
subconscious mind. So, every time a professional sports pundit declares that it
is highly unlikely that another horse will ever win the Triple Crown, and this
message is reinforced in the (collective) subconscious year after year, this
message becomes an established known. Eventually, the idea of a horse winning
each of the three championship races to earn the Triple Crown becomes painful because
the concept of such a champion—let alone witnessing the actual experience—has
become so unfamiliar. Eventually, it becomes more comfortable to be wishing and hoping for something we want to happen, but
that dream not actually come true, because we would have no idea how to feel or react,
if it was realized. And that not-knowing state is scary. It's painful.
I
for one believe that the pundits are wrong, and another horse will capture that
elusive crown one day. I agree that running and winning three races on three
different racetracks over a five-week period is an incredibly tough and
daunting challenge. But, it is a challenge that has been done eleven times
before. That is a fact; or, in terms of Kappasinian hypnotherapy, a known. If a behavior has been done
before, it can, and will, be accomplished again.
Sara
R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern
California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
