The Triple Crown: A Hat Trick of Excitement in Horse Racing
Equestrian News Release
For three Saturday's each spring, the sport of horse racing gets more attention than it gets on the other 49 Saturdays combined.
The center of the universe in the sport in the spring focuses on the most promising three year olds as they head down the Triple Crown Trail.
They are looking for a chance to join the likes of legends like Citation, Secretariat, and Seattle Slew, who managed to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes over a five week span.
The feat has not been done since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978.
Since then, eleven three year olds won the Derby and Preakness and headed to New York for the Belmont Stakes with an opportunity to join the select eleven runners that have won the Triple Crown, and they have all come up short.
Perhaps the most disappointing of the eleven occurred last year, where Big Brown went into the Belmont Stakes and seemed like a sure thing.
The Richard Dutrow trainee was eased, much to the surprise of a huge crowd at Belmont Park and millions more watching on television.
We saw horses attempt to sweep the Triple Crown three years in a row from 1997-99, with Silver Charm, Real Quiet, and Charismatic all failing in the final jewel of the three race sequence.
Those races were not without dramatic finishes. Silver Charm finished second to Touch Gold. Then Real Quiet came up an excruciating nose short as Victory Gallop got up in the final jump to beat him.
The following year, we saw Charismatic suffer a career ending injury in a third place finish to Lemon Drop Kid.
War Emblem stumbled out of the gate in the 2002 Belmont Stakes, finishing a disappointing eighth in a race won by longshot Sarava, who set a record payoff by returning his backers with $142.50 for each $2 wager.
Fast forward to 2003, and a New York bred “gutsy gelding” by the name of Funny Cide captured America’s attention by winning the Derby and Preakness for a group of high school buddies that drove to the races on a yellow school bus.
It sounded like a story the Racing Gods might appreciate, but the gelding could only finish third behind the winner Empire Maker.
An even more popular horse had a shot of glory the following year in 2004. Smarty Jones came from humble beginnings and was trained by the Philadelphia Park based trainer John Servis and ridden by veteran jockey Stewart Elliot, not one of the marquee jockeys in the sport.
The group of “underdogs” were wildly popular.
By the time Smarty Jones landed in New York for a chance at a Triple Crown, Smarty Parties were being held throughout the country, and it seemed it would be the year the Triple Crown drought would end.
Trainer Nick Zito, jockey Edgar Prado, and a three year old named Birdstone had other ideas.
Smarty Jones opened up nearly a four length lead in the stretch at Belmont Park and looked destined for glory, but Prado urged Birdstone in the stretch and the colt responded, overhauling the Derby and Preakness Stakes winner in deep stretch to pull off the upset.
The Smarty Parties came to an abrupt end.
In recent years, some fans would like to see a change in the Triple Crown races, perhaps giving horses an additional week or two between races, or shortening the distances of the races.
It is asking a lot for a three year old to be ready to win on the first Saturday of May going 1 ¼ miles, come back two weeks later and win at Pimlico at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, then return just three weeks later and go 1 ½ miles to win the Belmont Stakes.
However, an argument could be made that giving horses more time in between races, or cutting back on the distances would cheapen the value of accomplishing the toughest feat in horse racing and joining the illustrious eleven that have accomplished it.
By sunset on Saturday May 2 at Churchill Downs, there will be just one horse out of the more than 400 nominated for the Triple Crown series with a chance to parlay a Derby victory into legendary status.
The stars will have to align, the Racing Gods will have to approve, and a very special three year old will have to emerge.
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