American Pharoah an inspiration for future generations

by Laura Pugh

Thanks to American Pharaoh, one day I'll be able to tell my children and grandchildren that I witnessed the 12th Triple Crown winner.

I'll tell them how the near 40-year wait had many clamoring to change the Crown -- to change the spacing or the distances, something to make the task more easily obtained.

I'll also tell them that I'm glad that those who were resistant to the change stuck to their guns. Why? Because, while the 14 near-misses were heartbreaking, and even devastating, they made watching a truly great horse achieve what seemed like an impossible task that much more awe-inspiring.

Over the last decade or so, America has been obsessed with making tasks easier so that the world feels better about itself. The problem that occurs when everything gets watered down is that the greatness that defined those tasks, and those that complete them, is taken away. It also puts a large asterisk by the names of those that accomplish the feats after the changes were made.

This horse and his accomplishment of becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner after a 37-year drought should be played on every channel across the country. The difficulty of the Crown and the ease of which he took it should be stressed and celebrated, to show the people of America that even though tasks may seem impossible, that they can be obtained; to show the people of America what true greatness and brilliance looks like and what it is capable of.

Everyone is capable of greatness, that message is true, but what is missing from that message is you need to find the area that makes you truly happy -- the area that evokes your passion to become great, for your individuality to shine it's brightest. When I watch American Pharoah I see the confidence, the passion, and the love to run that makes him so great. He may be just a horse, but he loves what he does and that is what makes him so great -- enough to achieve a level of greatness that hasn't been seen for 37 years.

When I tell my children and grandchildren the story of the 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, I will tell them to strive for their individual greatness -- to never let anyone try to put them in box, and to find the thing that makes them the happiest so their passion can let their individual brilliance and greatness shine brighter than the trophy of the Triple Crown glittering in the sun.

(American Pharoah photo: Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)