Breeding, talent and opportunity aside, this horse was doing so well, Pletcher couldn’t hold her on the ground, he said. The safer, more prudent Mother Goose was three weeks away. He had to run this feline powder keg before she blew a gasket in the stall.

She stumbled, stumbled, at the start. But Velazquez was Johnny B. Cool. He gathered her, allowed her her head, positioned her where she likes to be and applied pressure ever so slightly when the moderate pace had turned glacial.

The dawdling pace hurt Hard Spun, stoutly restrained by Garrett Gomez, the regular rider of Rags To Riches, who at that point had his regular mount sitting off his right shoulder. But he wasn’t the Hard Spun of the Derby and Preakness, appearing uncomfortable over “big sandy.”

But Velazquez, regular rider for Pletcher, was now on the filly after his agent, Cordero, spoke with Greg Fox about their agreement to ride Slew’s Tizzy. And sometimes the game is about more than just money.

Fox agreed to let Velazquez out of his commitment. Gomez honored his, after he agreed to ride Hard Spun while Pletcher was still on the fence with the filly. You couldn’t make this up.

Slide show   The Week in Sports Pictures Madness of March takes hold, fists come out on the ice, and more. more photos

Curlin was a very good, troubled third in Louisville, as Street Sense and Calvin Borel stole the show in a dazzling display of firepower. Then Curlin and Street Sense did their thing in Baltimore. Exit gap left Street Sense; enter gap right Rags To Riches. The filly and Curlin then picked up what Street Sense and Curlin started in Baltimore.

Amazing how disparate results can produce an unforgettable Triple Crown. Who needs a sweep when one of the three winners, at any time, could produce a magical mystery tour that was the 139^th Belmont and the entire series, for that matter.

But that’s how the game is supposed to work when racing people are sporting enough to try. Jolly good show, eh what?

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