Horse Racing's Triple Crown: The Immortals

[twogunsid]

In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the "Triple Crown", is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.

While Daily Racing Form writer Charles Hatton is commonly credited with originating the term to reference these races in 1930, they were referred to by that name at least as early as 1923.[1] The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950, is awarded to a Triple Crown winner.

Only eleven horses have ever won the Triple Crown, none since 1978. Of the trainers of those eleven horses, "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons won the Triple Crown twice (the only trainer to do so), and another trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, scored a Triple Crown as a trainer in sweeping the 1995 races with different horses, the only individual to do so.

The eleven Triple Crown winners are Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), and Affirmed (1978).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing_%28United_States%29

[twogunsid]

1. A Remarkable Life - Sir Barton

In the southwest corner of the foaling barn, colt No. 187-16 took the first shaky strides of a most remarkable life. He was chestnut; a large, irregular white blaze set off his face. Two hours past midnight at his birth, he looked like a fine one to John Madden, owner of Hamburg Farm in the Bluegrass.

Every racing fan knows the story: how No. 187-16, later named Sir Barton, grew up to become the first winner of the Triple Crown: the series that actually did not acquire its catchy name until sometime after Sir Barton’s winning races in the 1919 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.

Had Sir Barton not raced in Man o’ War’s shadow he might be recalled today as one of the truly great ones. Nonetheless he bears a distinction no other horse can claim, as the first winner of the Triple Crown. No more than 10 others have won this elusive series.

Ironically, Sir Barton did not start out with the aura of a history-making individual. A long list of ironies comprised this horse’s life story.

http://www.belmontstakes.com/history/a-remarkable-life.aspx

[twogunsid]

2. The Fox of Belair - Gallant Fox

Gallant Fox, magnificent son of Sir Gallahad III, property of William Woodward, proved his superiority and his rightful claim to championship of the 3-year-olds when, at Belmont Park, June 7, he added the famous Belmont Stakes to his Wood Memorial, Preakness Stakes, and Kentucky Derby victories. Ridden by Earl Sande, who has piloted him in all of his starts this season, Gallant Fox finished the one mile and one-half three lengths in front of H.P. Whitney's Whichone, his challeger. James Butler's Questionnaire was third, three lengths back of the Whitney colt and 20 lengths in front of Walter J. Salmon's Swinfield. The fractional time for the distance was :23 4-5, :37 2-5, :50 1-2, 1:03 3-5, 1:16, 1:28 3-5, 1:41, 1:54, 2:07, 2:31 3-5. The weather was rainy, but the track was considered good. The net value to the winner was $66,040, the greatest amount the event has ever been worth.

Excitement was high as the four were paraded to the post, and, although it was raining, many risked a drenching and crowded along the rail to see the starting. The Woodward colt had first position, Swinfield next, and then Whichone and Questionnaire. There was a false start, for which Gallant Fox was responsible, but Sande had him under entire control and returned him to the post without any trouble.

When the barrier went up Sande at once sent the son of Sir Gallahad III to the front and he led all the way. Questionnaire raced after him and then Swinfield. Workman had Whichone in last place. The Woodward colt had a lead of two lengths before the run to the backstretch had been completed, but he was galloping under restraint. After they turned out of the backstretch Workman made his move on Whichone, and he went along smoothly until he was in contention. Gallant Fox continued to gallop along like a piece of machinery, and when the Whitney colt seemed a possible menace, Sande urged his mount slightly and the colt moved away gamely, until at the end he was three lengths clear and racing along easily.

Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/9706/triple-crown-heroes-gallant-fox#ixzz1wkp58WSl

[twogunsid]

3. A Son of a Triple Crown Winner - Omaha

Omaha, foaled at Claiborne Farm on March 24, 1932, was a seventeen hand chestnut colt sired by Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and out of Flambino, a successful stakes mare by Claiborne Farm's top sire *Wrack. Flambino was the winner of the Gazelle Stakes, and had also finished third behind Chance Shot in the 1927 Belmont Stakes. Flambino's dam, 1921 Kentucky Oaks winner Flambette, also produced Gallette, the dam of the champion mare Gallorette, and La France, the dam of 1939 Kentucky Derby winner Johnstown. Flambino herself also produced Flares and Fleam. It was unnecessary to go beyond the first generation to see the quality of Omaha's breeding, but his name hinted at ancestors such as the Epsom Derby winners Bend Or and Ormonde.

Like his sire and his dam, Omaha was owned and bred by William Woodward's Belair Stud, and was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons. Hopes were high for this first son of Gallant Fox, and he went even beyond the expectations.

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/omaha.html

[Kingofalldems]

4. I bet on a couple Citation offspring back in the day, early 70's.

[twogunsid]

6. He didn't produce many great runners....

he got one really good filly if my memory serves me correctly. I can't remember her name, though.

Who do you like in the Belmont Kingofalldems?

[Kingofalldems]

7. I am going with AP. Rooting for him. Nice workout.

As far as Citation offspring they had more than a few running for a tag of $1500 at Charles Town back then.

[twogunsid]

8. I am going with AP also....

I think he's a freak.

[twogunsid]

5. Man O' War's Best Son - War Admiral

Last edited Wed Jun 3, 2015, 04:47 PM - Edit history (1)

It may have been his famous match-race loss to Seabiscuit that most people remember today, but War Admiral was one of the greatest U.S. racehorses in history. He won 21 of his 26 career starts and became the nation’s fourth Triple Crown winner in 1937.

While the movie, Seabiscuit, portrayed War Admiral as this towering figure, the son of Man o’ War was actually quite small – just over 15 hands. He was notoriously a bad actor in the starting gate, which nearly cost him his Triple Crown when he stumbled at the start of the Belmont and sliced off about a quarter-inch of his heel.

Jim McKay has more of the story below in our latest Triple Crown Newsreel.

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/triple-crown-newsreel-war-admiral-1937/

[twogunsid]

9. The Knucklehead - Whirlaway

Last edited Tue Jun 2, 2015, 11:25 PM - Edit history (1)

On April 2, 1938, a small chestnut colt later named Whirlaway was foaled at Calumet Farm in Kentucky. During his successful turf career, the chestnut was known to his fans as Mr. Longtail, or The Flying Tail, due to his luxuriously long, thick, and quite unracehorselike posterior ornamentation.

His sire, *Blenheim II, had won the 1930 Epsom Derby for his owner and breeder, the Aga Khan, and had been imported from England in the fall of 1936 by Bull Hancock of Claiborne Farm. His dam, Dustwhirl, was a daughter of the All-American bred Sweep; two-time champion, Belmont Stakes winner, and twice American Leading Sire. Sweep's sire Ben Brush had won the 1896 Kentucky Derby, and his dam was Pink Domino, the most famous daughter of Domino, the great "Black Whirlwind" of the 1890's.

Dustwhirl was out of Ormonda, who as a broodmare produced two Kentucky Derby starters. Osmand had run second by a head in Whiskery's Kentucky Derby1, and Brevity had lost by the same margin to Bold Venture nine years later. Fortunately, the family's luck with the roses was not passed on to Whirlaway.

The son of Dustwhirl was among the Calumet yearlings in the first year that Calumet's horses were trained by the legendary Ben A. Jones and his equally legendary son Jimmy. Also among those youngsters was another chestnut colt by Blenheim II named Easy Blend. Before the horses were put to work, employees were hard pressed to tell them apart.

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/whirlaway.html

[twogunsid]

10. Wartime Triple Crown Hero - Count Fleet

He was a "freak" before the label was coined. He crushed his opponents by huge margins, galloping ahead of the pack, daring someone to catch him, and knowing no one could.

Count Fleet was a seal brown and slightly built. He also was a headstrong and maniacally competitive colt.

"If you took a hold of him, he'd bolt. He'd try to run for the outside fence," said his longtime rider Johnny Longden. "His unpredictable manners didn't exactly endear him to anyone. But when that leggy brown colt wanted to run, he could just about fly."

Count Fleet's owner, John D. Hertz, had emigrated from Austria to Chicago and quit school when he was twelve for a job selling newspapers on street corners. Later the co-owner of a Chicago automobile dealership, Hertz converted ten of his cars into taxicabs and founded the Yellow Cab Company.


- See more at: http://www.americasbestracing.net/en/the-latest/blogs/2013/04/29/count-fleet-wartime-triple-crown-hero/#sthash.MXbrcptJ.dpuf

[twogunsid]

11. The Club Footed Comet - Assault

On March 26, 1943, a chestnut colt was foaled on Robert Kleberg, Jr.'s King Ranch in Texas, an establishment which dwarfed the state of Rhode Island. His sire was Bold Venture, who had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1936, and his dam was Igual, an unraced mare by the two time Horse of the Year Equipoise. Igual's dam was out of Masda, the full sister of Man o' War.

The son of Bold Venture and Igual was named Assault in honor of the fact that his sire was a descendant of Commando, the 1901 Horse of the Year and sire of the unbeaten Colin. As a weanling, Assault stepped on a surveyor's stake, permanently crippling himself and providing the source of his future nickname, "The Club Footed Comet." When the oddly gaited horse first walked and trotted before Max Hirsch, the trainer doubted that he would ever make it to the post, let alone the winner's circle.

It took Assault four tries to break his maiden, and he lost once more before his first stakes victory. Wartime travel restrictions had encouraged the New York tracks to hold Saratoga's summer meeting at Belmont Park, and therefore when Assault went to post in the August 5 Flash Stakes, it was not at the historic spa. Assault started at odds of 70 to 1, and in a four way photo finish rewarded anyone who had been brave enough to risk the two dollars with a payoff of $443.20.

Assault raced twice more as a juvenile, running third behind Southern Pride and Tidy Bid in the Babylon Handicap, and finishing fourth behind Knockdown, Revoked, and Southern Pride in the Cowdin Stakes. After scoring only two wins in nine tries, Assault was sent to winter in South Carolina.

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/assault.html

[twogunsid]

12. Big Cy - Citation

For 25 years, his name was synonymous with an achievement that seemed beyond duplication: "-------- is trying to become the first horse since Citation in 1948 to win the Triple Crown."

So it went, year after year. Radio gave way to television. Five presidents would come and go. We could send a man to the moon, but we couldn't get a horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes again.

By the time Secretariat finally matched Citation's accomplishment in 1973, the quarter-century Triple Crown drought only served to underscore the brilliance of Citation's achievement.

He was racing's first millionaire horse, earning $1,085,760 in a 45-race career that ran from 1947-51. He won 32 times and was in the money in all but one. At his peak as a two- and three-year-old, Citation won 28 of his 30 races, including 16 consecutive wins between 1948 and 1950 that established a modern-day record. That mark was tied by Cigar in 1996.

https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014135.html

[twogunsid]

13. Pure Heart - Secretariat

Secretariat ran flat into legend, started running right out of the gate and never stopped, ran poor Sham into defeat around the first turn and down the backstretch and sprinted clear, opening two lengths, four, then five. He dashed to the three-quarter pole in 1:09⅘, the fastest six-furlong clocking in Belmont history. I dropped my head and cursed Turcotte: What is he thinking about? Has he lost his mind? The colt raced into the far turn, opening seven lengths past the half-mile pole. The timer flashed his astonishing mile mark: 1:34⅕!

I was seeing it but not believing it. Secretariat was still sprinting. The four horses behind him disappeared. He opened 10. Then 12. Halfway around the turn he was 14 in front ... 15 ... 16 ... 17. Belmont Park began to shake. The whole place was on its feet. Turning for home, Secretariat was 20 in front, having run the mile and a quarter in 1:59 flat, faster than his Derby time.

He came home alone. He opened his lead to 25 ... 26 ... 27 ... 28. As rhythmic as a rocking horse, he never missed a beat. I remember seeing Turcotte look over to the timer, and I looked over, too. It was blinking 2:19, 2:20. The record was 2:26⅗. Turcotte scrubbed on the colt, opening 30 lengths, finally 31. The clock flashed crazily: 2:22 ... 2:23. The place was one long, deafening roar. The colt seemed to dive for the finish, snipping it clean at 2:24.

I bolted up the press box stairs with exultant shouts and there yielded a part of myself to that horse forever.

http://www.si.com/longform/belmont/index.html

[a kennedy]

16. and OMGosh, this will never be topped in my heart.......I just loved this horse.

[twogunsid]

17. I know a lot of people feel that way....

Secretariat brought a lot of people to the sport. I don't think that time will ever be bettered.

[twogunsid]

14. The Only Undefeated Triple Crown Winner In The History Of The American Turf - Seattle Slew

It was nine o’clock in the morning on May 7, 2002—25 years to the day since Seattle Slew’s historic victory in the Kentucky Derby. The great Thoroughbred gave one final look at his devoted owners, Karen and Mickey Taylor, who, as usual, were by his side, and with his eyes, he let them know, as the Sioux warriors would say before going to battle, “It is a good day to die.”

Then, with the same class and dignity he displayed throughout his 28 years of life, he closed his eyes and passed quietly away. Even in death, he did it with style. He knew no other way. Seattle Slew was something wild and beautiful. On the track, he could be as swift and lethal as a falcon in a dive or soar as gracefully as an egret on gossamer wings. He was, in every sense of the word, a Thoroughbred.

John Polston was one day shy of his 57th birthday when he received a call from Karen Taylor, informing him that the great horse he had rubbed for two years had died that morning.

“I only spoke to Karen for a few minutes,” Polston said. “She was really broken up and could barely talk. She said Mickey had sat up with him 24 hours a day since last week, and assured me he didn’t suffer. They’d never let him suffer. They never had any kids; Slew was their child. They had devoted their lives to him since he got sick a few years ago, repaying him for all he had done for them. If there were more people like them I’d probably still be at the racetrack.”

Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2010/09/21/the-life-and-death-of-seattle-slew.aspx#ixzz3c2KFgdwd

[twogunsid]

15. The Greatest Rivalry - Affirmed

Going into the 1978 Kentucky Derby, Affirmed had compiled an enviable record of 11 wins from 13 starts, with four wins from six starts against Alydar. Despite Affirmed's advantage in the rivalry, Alydar was sent off as the 6-5 Derby favorite, followed by Affirmed at 9-5 in the 11-horse field. The early Derby pace was fast, with Affirmed settled more than five lengths back before moving to the lead with rounding the final turn. Affirmed opened up a two-length lead in the stretch as Alydar unleashed his closing drive in the stretch, falling 1 1/2 lengths short of winner Affirmed.

The margin was closer in the Preakness, but the result nonetheless the same as pacesetter Affirmed held off Alydar's stretch run to win by a neck. In the third leg of the Triple Crown, Affirmed took the early lead over four others, setting relatively slow fractions. After the first quarter was completed in 50 seconds, Alydar ranged up alongside Affirmed down the backstretch and the pace quickened. The two engaged in a close battle throughout the rest of the race, with Alydar appearing to take a slight lead in the stretch. Lacking the room to use the whip on Affirmed from his right hand, Cauthen switched the equipment to the left hand and used it to encourage Affirmed to the finish line, winning by a head.

With his Triple Crown secure, Affirmed went on to win the Jim Dandy and defeated Alydar in the Travers but was subsequently disqualified and placed second for interference in the stretch.

Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/2447/triple-crown-winner-affirmed-euthanized#ixzz3c2MrilYo

[Earth Bound Misfit]

18. It's about 5 mins to Post Time...

...and I think we're finally going to see a TC winner. Pharaoh wire-to-wire.

Thanks for the thread Sid, it was a great read!

[DinahMoeHum]

19. HE DID IT! AMERICAN PHAROAH DID IT !!!

http://www.sbnation.com/2015/6/6/8741707/2015-belmont-stakes-winner-american-pharoah/in/8505622


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/06/american-pharoah-triple-crown_n_7526870.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. I AM SO THRILLED TO HEAR THIS, MY DEAR DINAHMOEHUM!!!

Finally.

[twogunsid]

20. The Pharoah Reigns - American Pharoah

Heavily-favored American Pharoah ended the longest drought in Triple Crown history when he won the 147th Belmont Stakes on Saturday to emerge as the first horse to complete the historic sweep since Affirmed in 1978.

One of the magnificent feats in all of sports had become so elusive that many questioned whether horses were being bred for the task and whether the format of three races in five weeks should be changed. But American Pharoah, the 14th horse since Affirmed to venture to Belmont Park in pursuit of racing immortality, showed that the massive challenge can still be met.

It takes greatness. And American Pharoah, celebrated for his too-short tail, his ultra-sensitive hearing that leads Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert to stuff his ears with cotton and his misspelled name, achieved that stature for Zayat Stables.

With nerveless Victor Espinoza in the saddle, the bay son of Pioneerof the Nile followed his grinding one-length Kentucky Derby victory and seven-length Preakness romp with a Belmont triumph that prompted a mighty roar from a crowd limited to 90,000 fans.

- See more at: http://www.americasbestracing.net/en/the-latest/news-stories/2015/6/6/american-pharoah-reigns-in-belmont-triple-crown-drought-ends/#sthash.1X5Fyl5O.dpuf