NEW YORK -- Nick Zito channeled the late Lou Gehrig when he was inducted into horse racing's Hall of Fame in August 2005, capping his acceptance speech by acknowledging his own good fortune — not so much as a trainer, which he was for more than three decades at the time, but as a spectator throughout a virtual lifetime in the sport.
"For all of us in this room, we're lucky to be in this game, but it's not just for us," the then-57-year-old said in closing to a crowd of his peers at Saratoga. "It's for the fans, the racing fans. And with the help of God, I say today I am the luckiest fan alive."
Zito admitted he hadn't really stopped to consider how fortunate he's been when asked this week whether he'd been there for each of the Triple Crown near-misses since Affirmed last won horse racing's most prestigious title in 1978. He'd never considered the question before, he said, and so he paused for a moment and started racking his brain.
"I believe so, now that you mention it," Zito said in an interview with FOX Sports. "Yeah, I would say I'd have to be."
Then Zito did one better. As a 25-year-old in his first year as a head trainer in 1973, he was at Belmont when Secretariat romped to the most impressive win the sport has seen. He was there again in 1977 when Seattle Slew won his Triple Crown in the slop. And then he saw it firsthand when Affirmed held off Alydar to win the sport's third Triple Crown in six years.
"I was a young guy watching it, live and in color," Zito said, sounding almost wistful. "It was beautiful."
It's been 37 years since Affirmed, however, and in that time, 13 have tried and failed to join Thoroughbred racing's most elusive club. Over that span, Zito has witnessed it all. He's seen horses not start (I'll Have Another, 2012), and horses who never had a chance (War Emblem, 2002) and watched four horses finish second, including one who lost by a nose (Real Quiet, 1998).
He's seen two horses come up short at the hooves of his own — Birdstone won in dramatic fashion over Smarty Jones in 2004 and Da'Tara won in 2008, when Kent Desormeaux pulled a fading Big Brown up at the quarter pole. And while Zito, like everyone in and around horse racing, would like to see another Triple Crown, he says watching horses try never gets old.
"It never loses its luster," Zito said. "It's just a hard thing to do in sports. Even this year, you have a horse that has the credentials, but it's a hard thing, and I don't go away from that. American Pharoah getting all the hype and rightfully so, and (trainer Bob Baffert), obviously, has done an amazing job when you think about it, because this is his fourth try at winning a Triple Crown. That's amazing right there. But we'll see what happens."
American Pharoah was listed at 3-5 odds on the morning line Wednesday after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in May. And while Zito says he sees the potential for greatness in the bay colt, he's not ready to put him in a class with the greatest of all time just yet, partly because so many have made that mistake with others in the past, crowning them before they cross the wire.
"He's certainly getting close," Zito said. "They compare him to Seattle Slew, a lot of people, and I can see why with his style and everything. But I think it's too premature right now to put him with them. At this stage, he has to do it first, let's put it that way. And it's a big if. But he certainly is worthy of everything he's getting.
"They're all great horses, let's face it," Zito continued. "Secretariat was Secretariat, Seattle Slew was Seattle Slew and Affirmed was Affirmed. And they all went on to be good 4-year-olds, which is not that easy today. They were great horses, and we were spoiled. You keep thinking, 'It's coming again, it's coming again,' but it's been a long time."
Another reason Zito's not exactly rooting for American Pharoah is because he's got a horse of his own who he's hoping will spoil the party. Frammento was listed at the longest odds in the eight-horse field at 30-1, but Zito has a bit of a history with long shots in the Belmont. Da'Tara went off at 38-1 when he won by 5¼ lengths, and Birdstone, who later won the Travers Stakes but finished seventh in the Breeder's Cup Classic, was at 36-1 when the gates opened at Belmont.
Zito doesn't necessarily expect Frammento, who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby, to beat American Pharoah on Saturday. But Birdstone ran eighth at Churchill and Da'Tara was fifth in the Derby, so one bad start certainly isn't grounds to rule him out.
"I see a live horse, let's put it that way," Zito said of Frammento. "I have a live longshot, as they say. The horse has to have pedigree, which he has. He has to obviously have good energy, which he has. He has to have a good coat, which he has, and also, he has to be a horse that's coming into the race just right. Because this is a different deal.
"I may never get a chance, with him, to beat those horses, but this may be one of his better chances because we're going a mile and a half."
Of course, it wouldn't be a discussion about the Belmont if the distance didn't come up. But Zito — who would know better than just about anyone — couldn't stress enough what a game-changer it is.
"When you look at it and you have that mile and a half, as we talk about, it's a different deal," Zito said. "It's not like any other race. It's a huge thing and it's that last quarter of a mile, last eighth of a mile. It's not a mile and a quarter, not a mile and 3/16. It always seems, so many times, that they're just foiled by it. They're just beat by it, and for whatever reason, that's what it is."
So Zito will be there on Saturday, as he always is, rooting for opposing outcomes at the same time.
It would be special to witness the Triple Crown, especially in a sport that badly needs a new champion, but Zito also thrives on the thrill of the chase. He's seen unrepeatable success and devastating failure more than a few times. And for the luckiest fan alive, just being able to experience yet another bid for history in person is a victory in itself.
"The game is bigger than everybody, and sure, if (American Pharoah) was to win it would be great for the game," Zito said. "But I've got a job to do and it would be great, too, if I could win it a third time. So that's what I want to do."
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