Krone Wins Belmont Stakes.

Krone Wins Belmont Stakes. When American jockey Julie Krone rode Colonial Affair to victory in the 1993 Belmont Stakes, she not only fulfilled a personal dream, but also she became the first woman jockey to win a Triple Crown race. . Krone Wins Belmont Stakes On a drizzly summer day in western New York on June 5, 1993, Julie Krone drifted back to her childhood. She thought about when she was 14, watching television in her family's farmhouse in Eau Claire, Michigan, and cheering Steve Cauthen to victory aboard Affirmed in the 1978 Belmont Stakes. She remembered how she turned to her mother and declared, "Mom, I'm going to be a jockey." An adept rider from an early age, Krone became a teenage horseracing sensation. In 1982 and 1983 she was the top jockey at the Atlantic City track. In 1987 she became the first woman to win best jockey honors at Monmouth Park on the Jersey shore. She successfully defended that title in 1988 and 1989. She reigned supreme at New Jersey's Meadowlands from 1988 to 1990. In April 1988 she eclipsed Patricia Cooksey's record of 1,203 victories to become the winningest female jockey in history. In 1992 her combined purses--of which she pocketed 10 percent--totaled $9.2 million, among the nation's top ten. By 1993 Krone had amassed more than 2,500 victories and delivered more than $30 million in winnings. And she had built one of the most fabled reputations in all of horse racing. Her ability to communicate with horses was uncanny, as anyone who worked with her could attest. "She talks to the horses in body language. They respond to her," trainer Flint "Scotty" Shulhofer told the New York Times. "She's very smart and has a great feel. I think she's got the finest sense of horses of anyone around." All-time top-winning jockey Bill Shoemaker added, "It's a sixth-sense thing. I think you're born with that. Not all jockeys have it. Julie does." On that summer day in 1993, Krone found herself atop a horse whose limits were yet to be drawn. Colonial Affair was, at 17 hands, the tallest of the Belmont's 13 entrants. The blood of champions ran through his veins. The three-year-old colt was sired by 1981 Kentucky Derby winner Pleasant Colony, whose father was the English champion Nijinsky II. He was bred for distance. Owned by a financial speculator from Boston, Massachusetts, and trained by Shulhofer, Colonial Affair was a rising star. After winning one of four races as a twoyear-old, he came off a four-month respite in the spring to register two victories in three starts. One was an 8.25-length victory at Belmont Park on April 9. In late May Krone rode Colonial Affair to a second-place finish in the Peter Pan Stakes. Krone and Shulhofer agreed: the colt was pushed too hard too early. Krone would have to do a better job pacing Colonial Affair in the 2.5-km (1.5-mi) Belmont Stakes. More than 40,000 people were on hand for the 125th running of the Belmont Stakes. Krone's ride would be the eighth for a woman in a Triple Crown event. Krone had appeared in two Belmonts and one Derby. Cooksey, Diane Crump, and Andrea Seefeldt had accounted for three Kentucky Derby runs and one Preakness. En route to the starting gate, reported Sports Illustrated, Krone patted her horse on the neck and said, "Let's go out and make some history." At 5:31 PM, 13 horses bolted from the gate. Colonial Affair, a 14-1 longshot, held the fourth position. Krone played it safe, hovering near the middle of the pack to the outside--safely beyond the leaders' muddy wake. "His nature spoke to me," she told the New York Times. "I didn't want him to get dirt in his face, to get discouraged." It was there, on the backstretch, that race favorite Prairie Bayou crumpled to the track. The prize gelding, coming off of a win at the Preakness and a place at the Derby, had to be destroyed. "It's like losing a member of your family," Krone said of the accident afterward. "It's a wrenching, heartbreaking thing." At the backstretch Krone and Colonial Affair barreled ahead to take the lead. "I said to myself, 'Now he's ready,'" Krone told Sports Illustrated. "No horse was running as strong as my horse." Reaching speeds of 65 km/h (40 mph), Colonial Affair led by three lengths with about a mile to go. Krone, her 1.49-m (4-ft-10-in) frame in perfect sync with her horse, fought off several challenges to win by 2.25 lengths in a time of 2 minutes 29.8 seconds. Two other long shots, Kissin Kris (13-1) and Wild Gale (51-1), ran second and third, respectively. Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero finished out of the money at seventh (but still won a $1 million bonus for the best overall Triple Crown performance). Colonial Affair's return on a $2 bet was $29.80 to win, $14.80 to place, and $9.40 to show. His owner took home a purse of $444,540. Krone, her mud-spattered face tracked by tears, was nearly speechless in the winner's circle. "How do you stop crying?" she asked one of Colonial Affair's practice riders, according to Sports Illustrated. "You don't," he replied. Krone's triumph represented a personal victory, and it marked a quantum leap forward for women in professional sports. Her win was the first ever by a female jockey in a Triple Crown race--the Belmont, Kentucky Derby, or Preakness. Krone chose to downplay the issue. "I don't think the question needs to be genderized," she told the New York Times after the race. "It would feel great to anyone. Whether you're a girl or a boy or a Martian, you still have to go out there and prove yourself." Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.