The difference in California Chrome's destiny of either joining the hallowed horse racing names of Affirmed and Secretariat or joining the growing list of horses that failed to win the Belmont Stakes after winning the first two jewels of the Triple Crown could be jockey Victor Espinoza.
The same Espinoza who flamed out in his first attempt to capture the Triple Crown.
California Chrome knocked off the second jewel of 2014, the Preakness, by holding off Ride On Curlin by 1 ½ lengths to become the 13th horse since Affirmed to win the first two races of the Triple Crown.
No horse since Affirmed has succeeded.
SI.com reported that one of those horses that tried and failed was War Emblem in 2002, ridden by Espinoza.
According to SI.com, Espinoza was a 32-year-old who shied away from the spotlight when War Emblem was making his run. Espinoza was uneasy under the glare of the spotlight he faced for the first time, SI.com reported.
"I tried to do too much," he told SI.com of his experience with War Emblem.
During the Belmont, War Emblem stumbled out of the gate and never had a chance to win the Belmont. The pressure of trying and failing to win the triple crown, Sports Illustrated stated, has weighed heavily on Espinoza ever since.
In describing Saturday's race, Espinoza told SI.com that he had to come up with a tactical scenario on the fly that he said was "complicated" to get California Chrome to the finish line first.
Despite the onrush of challengers, including Ride On Curlin's final charge toward the end of the race, Espinoza guided California Chrome to a winning time of 1 minute, 54.84 seconds, the fastest winning time at the Preakness since Big Brown ran a 1:54.80 in 2008.
Espinoza, now 44, seems more comfortable on the big stage, SI.com saying his "cool demeanor" matches that of California Chrome, which makes them a formidable duo on the track.
But with the Belmont almost three weeks away, Espinoza almost certainly will be reminded of his first attempt at racing immortality. The question remains whether reminiscing will help Espinoza overcome his feeling of failure or exacerbate it.
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