Onion and Opinions

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56 – July, 2022

By Wayne Cavanaugh

In the Whitney Stakes on August 4, 1973, Secretariat, who had just won the Triple Crown, was defeated by a horse named Onion. Safe to say that everyone reading this knows that Secretariat was one of the greatest racehorses of all-time. But very few ever heard of the ignominiously named Onion and for good reason–Onion was a good one, but not a great one. On that fateful day in ‘73, for the only one minute, 49.20 seconds that mattered, Onion was a better horse than Secretariat. Nothing will change the outcome.

The Whitney’s origins don’t trace back as far as Westminster– only the Kentucky Derby can make that claim–but it has been held for nearly a century in Saratoga, New York. The Saratoga Racetrack, circa 1863, and its nearby legendary mineral springs, were a playground retreat for the gilded gentry such as Jay and Helen Gould in the storied era of the robber barons. You may have heard of the Goulds in Tarrytown recently as the mansion in which they lived was the backdrop for our sport’s greatest event; that is, the inimitable Westminster Kennel Club dog show. This summer was the 146th year of our canine crown jewel.

While the most obvious difference between these classic New York sporting traditions is horses and dogs, the essential disparity is the nature of determining the winners: horse racing is objective, dog shows are subjective. The winner of the Whitney is definitive. The winners at Westminster are opinions. To be clear, the opinions are given by highly experienced, knowledgeable, dedicated people who have earned the right to make decisions as judges at Westminster. While I may have different opinions in some cases, I will defend every single decision of this year’s (and every year’s) group and Best in Show judges. They were in the ring and they deservedly earned that right and earned our respect, regardless of our ringside opinions.

Click here to read the complete article
56 – July, 2022

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