After California Chrome failed to become the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown Saturday afternoon, co-owner Steve Coburn went on a tirade at the Belmont Stakes. Now, after having a couple of days to digest missing out on history, Coburn has apologized for his rant.
Coburn, 61, appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on Monday to apologize for calling Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist a "coward" for not racing in the other two legs of the Triple Crown.
"Very ashamed of myself," Coburn told the program. "Very ashamed. I need to apologize to a lot of people."
Overcome with the emotion that California Chrome finished in a fourth place tie with Wicked Strong at the Belmont Stakes after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Coburn gave off a heated post-race interview on NBC. The owner has since apologized for his actions.
"It's just the emotion of the whole journey coming together at one time," said Coburn.
Coburn's wife, Carolyn, said she was proud to see her husband admitting he was wrong following the race.
"I'm proud of him for coming up here and doing this. It was something we needed to do. Our story has given so much joy to so many people. I hope that this 30 seconds doesn't destroy all that," she told the show.
Tonalist hadn't raced in the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness, drawing the ire of Steve Coburn following Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
"It says Triple Crown. You nominate your horse for the Triple Crown. That means three," Steve Coburn said after the race. "Even the Triple Crown trophy has three points on it. So when you earn enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, those 20 horses that start in the Kentucky Derby should be the only 20 allowed to run in the Preakness and the Belmont for the Triple Crown."
Steve Coburn also came up with a questionable analogy of Tonalist's preparation for Saturday's big race.
"These people nominate their horses for the Triple Crown, and then they hold out two [races] and then come back and run one," he told ESPN. "That would be like me at 6-2 playing basketball with a kid in a wheelchair. They haven't done anything with their horses in the Triple Crown. There were three horses in this race that ran in the first two -- California Chrome, Ride on Curlin and General a Rod. None of the other horses did. You figure out. You ask yourself, 'Would it be fair if I played basketball with a child in a wheelchair?'"
Coburn said he wanted to "apologize to everyone associated with Tonalist" and "all the horseracing in the world" on Monday.
"I need to apologize to the winners. They run a beautiful race. They deserve that. I didn't mean to take anything away from them," Coburn told the show. "... Congratulations, you got a fantastic horse. He deserved to win. He won the race, fair and square."
California Chrome became the latest in a long line of horses that failed to win the Triple Crown, and the question lingers if anyone will ever follow-up what happened in 1978 when Affirmed became the 11th Triple Crown winner in history.
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