American Pharoah guns for Triple Crown

I SUPPOSE it would be safe to say that the world was taken aback, not shocked, by the transformation of Bruce Jenner from man to woman.

In this day and age, it is no longer earth-shaking to see a celebrity like Bruce become Caitlyn.

From Olympic decathlon champion to debutante at age 65.

From macho man whose image was plastered on the box of Wheaties cereal—the breakfast of champions—to cover girl of Vanity Fair.

Caitlyn has been in the public eye for a long time.

Coming out of the Montreal Olympics 39 years ago, she had been an actor, author and, most recently, a part of the Kardashian family’s reality television shows.

It was on one occasion away from the Kardashians, by the time her marriage to Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashians, ended, that she began the carefully calibrated and open transition from male to female.

Although Caitlyn had chronicled her voyage publicly, a lot of sports fans will have a hard time erasing the memory of Jenner the Olympian—the American alpha male—circa 1976.

While crossing the finish line of the 1,500 meters in the decathlon at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, Jenner, assured of the gold medal by a record-breaking margin, raised both hands in triumph.

It was an image captured on millions of Wheaties boxes after the Games and remains imbedded in the minds of sports followers who remember.

Why did Jenner embark on the life-changing journey and could her decision make a positive impact on the transgender community?

In a video she made for Vanity Fair, Caitlyn said she is very proud of her Olympic moments. But she admitted that she was probably at the Games because “I was running away from a lot of things.”

“Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie. Every day he always had a secret, from morning till night,” she said. “Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets. As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I am free.”

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Kentucky-bred and California-trained American Pharoah attempts today to become only the 12th thoroughbred to win American horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown.

Pharoah, the bay colt with a misspelled name, won the Crown’s first two jewels—the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

To snare the last one, he will now have to run against seven fresh 3-year-olds in the 2.4 kilometer Belmont Stakes in Long Island, New York.

The Triple Crown has been called the most difficult feat in all of sports. It is ran in a span of five weeks at three different distances on three different racetracks and three different states.

Dozens of would-be Triple Crown winners have had their chances erased at Belmont—the longest of the three races—because of lousy rides, lousy starts and lousy weather.

Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown and none since Affirmed in 1978.

That has made the excitement and anticipation only greater this year for horse racing aficionados the world over, including local railbirds.