American classics – the Triple Crown

Tom Law 09:18 Jul 17th, 2018 Horse Racing

The origins of the phrase Triple Crown in the American racing lexicon are widely disputed.

Longtime Daily Racing Form columnist Charles Hatton is frequently credited with creating the phrase when referring to the spring classics – the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes at Belmont Stakes. New York Times writer Bryan Field is also said to have printed the words when referring to the races after Gallant Fox won the 1930 Belmont, at the same time sweeping the series.

What is no disputable is the importance of the races to racing or their popularity among racing fans.

The Kentucky Derby opens the series, annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race for 3-year-olds at the American classic distance of 1 1/4 miles draws the largest on-track crowd of the year – upwards of 150,000 fans – and one of if not the largest television audiences. The Derby itself also generates more than $110 million in wagering, not to mention the uncounted thousands of dollars bet at office pools, Derby parties or through illegal bookmakers.

Two weeks later comes the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Preakness was first run in 1863 and predates the Derby by two years; and it used to be run before its Louisville counterpart at times in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Belmont Stakes completes the series and is traditionally run three weeks after the Preakness at Belmont Park just outside New York City. Run at 1 1/2 miles, the Belmont is known as the “Test of a Champion” and its reputation for being the crowning race of greats is as equal to its status as a monumental stumbling block for others.

The oldest of the American classics first staged in 1867, the Belmont is the fourth oldest stakes races in North America behind Keeneland’s Phoenix Stakes, Woodbine’s Queen’s Plate and Saratoga’s Travers Stakes.

American Pharoah completed the sweep of the historic series in 2015 to become the 12th and first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, joining a pantheon of racing legends that includes Secretariat, Citation, Whirlaway and Seattle Slew. Prior to American Pharoah’s attempt, 34 horses won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and were eligible for the sweep but either did not run or could not win the Belmont Stakes.

The first horse to sweep the Triple Crown was Sir Barton in 1919. Three others pulled it off in the 1930s – Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935 and War Admiral in 1937. Four horses swept the series in the 1940s – Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946 and Citation in 1948.

A significant drought hit the Triple Crown after Citation’s run through the races and seven horses won the first two jewels but failed to win the Belmont from 1949 to 1972. Secretariat, widely considered the one of the world’s greatest horses and arguably the best to race in North America, ended a 25-year drought with a powerful run through the Triple Crown in 1973. He set track and stakes records in each of the races and culminated his Triple Crown with a 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes in a time two seconds faster than any other winner in the 147 editions of the race.

Seattle Slew and Affirmed are the only horses to win the Triple Crown in consecutive years, in 1977 and 1978, respectively. The drought after Affirmed’s memorable sweep at the expense of pesky rival Alydar stretched 37 years – and 13 horses that had a chance for the sweep – until American Pharoah registered a popular victory in 2015.