VOA慢速英语：今年美国赛马三冠王大赛将会截然不同
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US Horse Racing’s Triple Crown Will Look Different This Year
今年美国赛马三冠王大赛将会截然不同
By George Grow
25 May 2020
The New York Racing Association announced this week that the Belmont Stakes will take place on June 20.
纽约赛马协会本周宣布，贝尔蒙特大奖赛将于6月20日举行。
The Belmont is one of three major races for three-year-old thoroughbred horses in the United States. Together, the races are known as horse racing's Triple Crown.
贝尔蒙特大奖赛是美国三岁纯种马的三大赛事之一。这些赛事加在一起被称为赛马的三冠王大赛。
The Triple Crown will look very different this year, from start to finish.
今年的三冠王大赛从头到尾都将会显得截然不同。
For the first time, the Belmont Stakes will be run before the other two races, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in Baltimore. Horses competing in the Belmont Stakes normally run about 2.4 kilometers. But this year, the distance has been cut to two kilometers. And Belmont Park – the track where the race takes place – will be mostly quiet. There will be no racing fans cheering on the horses.
贝尔蒙特大奖赛将首次在其它两大赛事（即肯塔基德比和普里克内斯锦标赛）之前举行。参加贝尔蒙特大奖赛的赛马通常需要跑大约2.4公里。但是今年距离已经缩短到了两公里。而且进行比赛的贝尔蒙特公园的赛道也将会基本保持安静。不会有粉丝为赛马加油鼓劲。
"I think we're going to have a big field," said New York Racing Association president Dave O'Rourke. In this case, "field" means the group of horses taking part in the race.
纽约赛马协会主席戴夫·奥洛克表示：“我认为会有大批赛马参赛。”这里的field是指参加比赛的马群。
O'Rourke added, "I think it'll be a really competitive field. I think the dynamics of the race are different."
奥洛克还说：“我认为它们会非常有竞争力。这场比赛的动力与众不同。”
The Triple Crown races will not be taking place in their usual order for the first time since 1931. The Kentucky Derby was moved from May 2 to September 5 because of efforts to stop the coronavirus. The health crisis also forced the postponement of Preakness from May 16 to October 3.4
自1931年以来，三冠王大赛将首次不按常规顺序进行。为了阻止新冠病毒传播，肯塔基德比从5月2日改到了9月5日。这场健康危机还迫使普里克内斯锦标赛从5月16日推迟到了10月3日。
An out-of-order Triple Crown will be a different kind of competition. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont are usually run during a five-week period in the spring. By the summer and autumn, the three-year-old thoroughbreds are more experienced.
打乱顺序的三冠王大赛将是另一种类型的比赛。肯塔基德比、普里克内斯锦标赛和贝尔蒙特大奖赛通常在春季的5个星期内进行比赛。到了夏季和秋季，这些三岁纯种马的经验会更加丰富。
"It's going to help some, it's going to hurt others," trainer Mark Casse said. "You're going to see a lot stronger, probably a bigger, stronger horse from May."
驯马师马克·卡斯表示：“这会对一些人有利，对另一些人不利。从5月开始，你会看到更大更强壮的赛马。”
The Belmont was supposed to take place on June 6. But horse racing in New York was halted in March after a racetrack worker was found to have the disease COVID-19. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did not announce his decision to restart racing until May 16.
贝尔蒙特大奖赛原定于6月6日举行。但是在一名马场员工确诊新冠肺炎之后，纽约州的赛马活动在3月份被叫停。纽约州州长安德鲁·库莫直到5月16日才宣布重新开始比赛。
Live racing is slowly restarting across North America. Track owners feel they can operate safely and earn money without fans watching. There are two reasons for this: earnings from television broadcasts and online betting.
北美的实况赛马活动正在缓慢重启。赛道老板认为他们可以在没有粉丝观赛的前提下安全地运营并盈利。造成这种情况有两个原因：电视直播和网络博彩能获得收入。
Last year, many people who bet on the Belmont Stakes did not actually attend the race. Off-track betting operations took in more than $90 million on the race.
去年，很多贝尔蒙特大奖赛的投注人并未真正去现场观赛。比赛中的场外投注业务获得了超过9千万美元的收入。
Bob Baffert has trained two Triple Crown winners over the years. This year, he hopes to build up his horses for the three races with the Belmont as the first event.
鲍勃·巴弗特多年来培养了两名三冠王得主。今年，他希望在贝尔蒙特大奖赛作为首项赛事的三大赛事中历练他的马匹。
"I think they're going to be more competitive with that spaced-out time," Baffert said. "At the end of the day, the end game is the Kentucky Derby. That September 5 date is what we're all shooting for."
巴弗特表示：“我认为它们在这段间隔时间内会更具竞争力。最后一场比赛是肯塔基德比。那个9月5日是我们所有人的目标。”
Words in This Story
thoroughbred – adj. of top quality, pure-blooded
track – n. an area prepared for a racing event
dynamics – n. forces that leads to progress or change
bet – v. to risk money or something else against others; to compete in a game of chance
shoot for – phrasal verb. to aim to do something
*内容来源皮特·姆斯托（51VOA.COM原创翻译），侵删~
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