Triple Crown Successes-Failures
NEW YORK – Twelve 3-year-olds have won the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes). Twenty have failed by losing in the Belmont. How they raced in the Belmont. Success 2015 – American Pharoah ends a record 37-year drought leading all the way to finish 5 1/2 lengths ahead of Frosted. 1978 – Affirmed duels with archrival Alydar for about the final five-eighths of a mile and beats him by a head. The other three starters finish far back. 1977 – Seattle Slew has no problems disposing of seven rivals, leading all the way and winning by 4 lengths. 1973 – In probably the greatest performance ever by a racehorse, Secretariat wins by from 31 to 45 1/4 lengths over four rivals in 2:24, which still stands as a world record for 1 1-2 miles on dirt. 1948 – Citation leads seven rivals every step of the way and wins by 8 lengths. 1946 – Third with about an eighth-mile remaining, Assault charges to victory by 3 lengths in a seven-horse field. 1943 – Count Fleet gets no competition from two rivals and wins by 25 lengths. 1941 – Whirlaway opens a 7-length lead at midpoint, then finishes in hand for a 2 1/2 length win in a four-horse field. 1937 – War Admiral takes lead shortly after start and holds it for a 3-length win in seven-horse field. 1935 – Shuffled back at the start, Omaha overtakes Firethorn in the stretch and wins by 1 1/2 lengths in a field of four. 1930 – Gallant Fox leads almost all the way and wins by 3 lengths in a four-horse field. 1919 – Sir Barton has no trouble beating only two rivals, winning by 5 lengths over 1 3-8 miles. Distance becomes 1 1-2 miles in 1926. Failure 2014 – California Chrome, fourth with five furlongs to go, is well off the rail on the far turn. Ranges up and sets down coming five wide into the stretch, but fails to pick up the pace to finish in a dead-heat for fourth with Wicked Strong. 2008 – Big Brown finishes last to Da’ Tara, the longest shot on the board. Big Brown is rank at the start and fails to respond when Kent Desormeaux asks him to run in the last turn. At that point, Desormeaux eases him up. 2004 – Smarty Jones extends his lead approaching the quarter pole and maintains a clear lead inside the furlong marker. Fights gamely into deep stretch then yields grudgingly while weakening in the late stages to finish second, a length behind Birdstone. 2003 – Funny Cide leads to the far turn, relinquishes the lead to Empire Maker at the three-sixteenths pole, battles along the inside to the top of the stretch then weakens finishing third, five lengths back. 2002 – War Emblem stumbles badly out of the gate then bumps Magic Weisner at start in an 11-horse field. Is rank for three-quarters of a mile and takes brief lead nearing the half-mile pole. Remains a factor to the turn and gives way finishing eighth, 19 1/2 lengths back. 1999 – Charismatic takes the lead briefly at the turn but Lemon Drop Kid and Vision and Verse fly by him on the outside and he finishes third 1 1/2 lengths back. 1998 – Four lengths ahead with an eighth-mile remaining, Real Quiet gets nipped by a nose at the wire by Victory Gallop in a nine-horse field. 1997 – Silver Charm fails to hold off Touch Gold in the final eighth-mile and finishes second three-quarters of a length back, in a seven-horse field. 1989 – Sunday Silence can’t match Easy Goer in final quarter of a mile and finishes second, eight lengths back in a 10-horse field. 1987 – Checked sharply on final turn, Alysheba finishes fourth, 14 lengths behind winner Bet Twice in a 10-horse field. 1981 – Pleasant Colony, never better than third, finishes a little more than 1 1/2 lengths behind Summing, with Highland Blade second in an 11-horse field. 1979 – The 1-5 favorite, Spectacular Bid leads with a quarter-mile left, but weakens to finish third in an eight-horse field, 3 1/4 lengths behind Coastal and another head behind Golden Act. 1971 – Canonero II leads 12 rivals for the first mile before finishing fourth, 4 1/4 lengths behind winner Pass Catcher. 1969 – Majestic Prince closes to second in a six-horse field with an eighth-mile remaining, but he can’t catch Arts And Letters and is beaten by 5 1/4 lengths. 1968 – Forward Pass leads until eighth-pole, then finishes second by 1 3/4 lengths to Stage Door Johnny in nine-horse field. 1966 – Leading 10 rivals with a quarter-mile remaining, Kauai King fades to fourth, 7 lengths behind winner Amberoid. 1964 – Northern Dancer is second in a nine-horse field with an eighth-mile remaining, but he finishes third 6 lengths behind Quadrangle and 4 lengths behind Roman Brother. 1961 – Carry Back never gets into contention and finishes seventh in a nine-horse field, 13 3/4 lengths behind winner Sherluck. 1958 – Tim Tam is unable to cut in Cavan’s lead and finishes second by 6 lengths in an eight-horse field. 1944 – Pensive leads with a quarter-mile remaining, but he loses by a half-length to Bounding Home in a seven-horse field.
NEW YORK – At long last, the Triple Crown drought is over.
American Pharoah led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 5 lengths on Saturday, becoming the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes – one of the sporting world’s rarest feats.
“Wow! Wow!” jockey Victor Espinoza said moments after crossing the finish line. “I can only tell you it just an amazing thing.”
The bay colt with the unusually short tail defeated seven rivals in the grueling 1 1/2-mile race, covering the distance in 2:26.65 to end the longest stretch without a Triple Crown champion in history.
American Pharoah is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win three races on different tracks at varying distances over a five-week span. He won the Derby by one length on May 2 and then romped to a seven-length victory in the rainy Preakness two weeks later before demolishing his rivals Saturday.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” said Bob Baffert, at 62 the second-oldest trainer of a Triple Crown winner.
Baffert and Espinoza ended their own frustrating histories in the Triple Crown. Baffert finally won on his record fourth Triple try, having lost in 1997, 1998 (by a nose) and in 2002. Espinoza got it done with his record third shot after failing to win in 2002 and last year on California Chrome.
Sent off as the overwhelming 3-5 favorite, American Pharoah paid $3.50, $2.80 and $2.50.
“I feel so good,” Espinoza said, “I say, ‘I hope American Pharoah feels like me.”
Frosted returned $3.50 and $2.90, while Keen Ice was another two lengths back in third and paid $4.60 to show.
Mubtaahij was fourth, followed by Frammento, Madefromlucky, Tale of Verve and Materiality.
American Pharoah delivered a victory for Egyptian-born owner Ahmed Zayat, who bred the colt and put him up for sale before buying him back for $300,000. His name came courtesy of the family’s online contest, in which a woman from Missouri submitted the winning moniker, but the misspelling wasn’t noticed until the name was already official
“I can’t believe it happened,” said Justin Zayat, racing manager for his father’s stable. “It’s amazing. Oh my God.”
American Pharoah joined the exclusive club of Triple Crown winners 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.
“I’m thrilled,” said 93-year-old Penny Chenery, who owned Secretariat and watched from the stands.
A sign with American Pharoah’s name and silks was quickly put up in the infield next to the 11 other Triple Crown winners.
The crowd of 90,000 – capped to avoid overcrowding and long lines from last year’s total of 102,199 – roared asAmerican Pharoah turned for home still in front.
As he neared the finish line, drinks were tossed in the air and fans jumped up and down in celebration, many holding their camera phones aloft to capture history on a sunny, 75-degree day at Belmont Park. It’s unlikely the champion heard them since American Pharoah wears ear plugs to block noise that might get him worked up.
American Pharoah extended his winning streak to seven races. He matched the accomplishment of his grand-sire, Empire Maker, who won the 2003 Belmont, spoiling Funny Cide’s Triple Crown bid.
Since 1978, the rigors of the Triple Crown had done in 13 other horses who won the Derby and the Preakness – with 12 losing the third leg and I’ll Have Another scratched with a leg injury in 2012. Their failures left the sport and its fans craving a worthy successor to the 11 previous champions.
American Pharoah – his tail shortened after being bitten off on a farm when he was a youngster – turned out to be that horse. He awed observers with his speed and a fluid, springloaded stride in which he appeared to float over the ground.
He was 2-year-old champion last year, and virtually cinched similar honors for his achievements as a 3-year-old this year.
Unlike Affirmed, who dueled Alydar in all three races, American Pharoah didn’t have a specific rival since he was only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races. Going into the Belmont, American Pharoah had beaten all of his seven challengers before.
Five of his rivals lost to him in the Derby, then skipped the Preakness to await the Belmont, a competitive advantage to horses that didn’t endure the three-race grind. Tale of Verve finished second in the Preakness toAmerican Pharoah, who had beaten Madefromlucky in the Rebel Stakes in March.
American Pharoah became the first horse since Afleet Alex in 2005 to run in all three races and win the Belmont, known as “The Test of the Champion.”
He passed, with flying colors.
American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza approach the finish line to win the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race at Belmont Park on Saturday, June 6, 2015, in Elmont, N.Y. American Pharoah is the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed won it in 1978.