When eight thoroughbreds break from the post at Belmont Park on Saturday, American Pharoah will be the only one who has run in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
Seven fresh (or at least fresher) horses will be trying to ruin yet another Triple Crown contender’s bid for history.
This seems neither fair nor sporting, like Usain Bolt having to face sprinters who have skipped the heats and jumped straight into the Olympic 100-meter final, or the Cleveland Cavaliers skipping three playoff rounds and advancing directly to the N.B.A. finals.
Racing’s fresh-horse dilemma is not new, but it reflects an intriguing moral, political and economic conundrum in an industry that has been attacked for its treatment and mistreatment of animals as it wages an increasingly desperate fight to remain relevant.