The Rivalry Game

Florida vs. Florida St., Ohio St. vs. Michigan, USC vs. UCLA, these are the games that make college football matter! I know guys who do not watch college football, but will watch the rivalry games. These games are the foundation on which the sport has been built.

Horse Racing too has had its share of rivalries. Affirmed versus Alydar, Easy Goer versus Sunday Silence and Lure versus Star of Cozzene come to mind. The problem with these rivalries is that they are between individual horses. Rivalries between horses are few and far between and usually very anticlimactic (Yes, I am referring to Rachel v Zenyatta). What racing could really use is inter-stable rivalries. These rivalries would put a human face on the sport, and could potentially last forever.

The question is: Which stables would make the best rivals? Here's what I came up with.


IEAH vs. West Point Thoroughbreds:

Like two girls who wound up wearing the same dress to the ball, the two major racing partnerships must harbor some healthy animosity to one another. Throw in the fact that many think Iavorone and Dutrow are not always the best horsemen, and you have the classic good guy versus bad guy tale; although I personally do not believe that anyone gets into the racing business to abuse horses-just my opinion. Either way, IEAH and West Point should agree to meet head to head in a series of graded stakes races and settle the question of which racing partnership is greatest once and for all.

Claiborne Farms vs. ?

Claiborne races and then stands stallions like nobody else. That's why I put a question mark in place of their opponent's name. The other breeders who also race need to step their game up. Overbrook Farms is making a comeback. Perhaps Claiborne will have a rival after all. The stakes would be very high in this rivalry as Claiborne themselves stand the sires they race, and a loss could affect that horses value at stud terribly. On a less meaningful note, both stables have really cheerful looking silks. I wouldn't mind seeing either of those silks side by side coming down the stretch.

Mary Lou Whitney vs. Jenny Craig

The Queen of Saratoga takes on the queen of weight loss. Now, of course in order for this rivalry to succeed, Jenny has to start winning more races; it's not that Jenny doesn't win plenty of races, it's just that Mary Lou wins everything. Provided Jenny Craig does kick her win percentage into overdrive, this could be one for the ages. Think about it. Jenny's base is Golden Gate fields and Mary Lou's base is Belmont/Saratoga. This is going to get ugly. Who said crazy, pointless geographically based rivalries were the domain of hip-hop stars alone?

The main point that I'm trying to make is that racing needs a human component. When thousands of people say they like Zenyatta, but are clueless as to who her jockey is, that is generally a bad thing because Zenyatta is retired, but Mike Smith should be around for a while. This is just one of the ideas I have. Feel free to comment.