Triple Crown winners and close calls

It was nearly four decades between Triple Crown winners before American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 2015. It took only a few more years for the next one, as Justify and jockey Mike Smith capped off a Triple Crown in 2018 with a victory at the Belmont Stakes, which came after the horse won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Like American Pharoah, Justify was trained by Bob Baffert.

Led by veteran jockey Victor Espinoza and trainer Bob Baffert, the time finally came for a new horse to enter racing lore. American Pharoah became the 12th Triple Crown winner and first in 37 years. After winning the Kentucky Derby by a length, American Pharoah dominated at Preakness and Belmont to break the Triple Crown drought.

The great-great grandson of Seattle Slew, California Chrome seemed destined to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed. The horse won the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in convincing fashion, but when the gun sounded for the Belmont Stakes, California Chrome came out flat. It turned out that California Chrome suffered a tendon injury during the race, preventing him from truly ever posing a threat.

2012 saw I’ll Have Another become the 10th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown but fall short of completing the feat. After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in dominating fashion, I’ll Have Another did not compete at the Belmont Stakes due to a tendon injury that ended the horse’s career.

In 2008 racehorse Big Brown won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and again the racing world was primed for its newest Triple Crown winner. As fate would have it, Big Brown had a crack in his left hoof headed into the Belmont Stakes. The injury prevented Big Brown from really ever having a chance of winning the race.

After Smarty Jones won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, including a record 11.5-length win at the Preakness Stakes, it appeared the racing world would finally have a new Triple Crown winner. Unfortunately, Smarty Jones placed second in the Belmont Stakes to Birdstone, a 36-1 long shot.

The next horse to tease a Triple Crown win was Funny Cide in 2003. Funny Cide became the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. After winning the Preakness Stakes, Funny Cide finished third at the Belmont Stakes.

Despite never even seeing the horse prior to the 2002 Kentucky Derby, jockey Victor Espinoza guided War Emblem to victory. Espinoza and War Emblem then went on to win the Preakness Stakes and looked poised to become the first Triple Crown winner in 24 years. The horse racing world would have to wait, however, as War Emblem was upset at the Belmont Stakes by Sarava, whose odds heading into the 2002 Belmont Stakes were 70-1.

The great grandson of Secretariat, Charismatic was the next horse to come frustratingly close to being a Triple Crown winner. After taking the first two legs of the Crown, Charismatic sadly broke his front left leg in two places during the Belmont Stakes. Fortunately, jockey Chris Antley sensed the injury as it happened, jumped off Charismatic and immediately signaled for the medical attention that saved the horse’s life.

Nicknamed “The Fish” by trainer Bob Baffert due to his narrow frame, Real Quiet is yet another horse that came tantalizingly close to winning the Triple Crown. After winning the first two legs, Real Quiet quite literally could not have come closer to winning the Triple Crown, as he lost by a mere four inches to Victory Gallop at the Belmont Stakes.

Silver Charm was next in line to galvanize the horse racing world with his near Triple Crown win in 1997. After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Silver Charm placed second in the Belmont Stakes, losing to Touch Gold by a mere half of a length.

The next horse to tease a Triple Crown victory was Sunday Silence in 1989. Ridden by jockey Pat Valenzuela, Sunday Silence defeated rival horse Easy Goer in the first two legs of the Crown but failed to get the better of his rival at the Belmont Stakes, as he lost to Easy Goer by eight lengths.

In 1987 thoroughbred Alysheba teased the horse racing world with a potential Triple Crown win. However, after winning the first two legs, Alysheba was prevented by New York horse racing officials from using a medication called Lasix prior to that year’s Belmont Stakes. Alysheba finished fourth in the race.

Jockey Jorge Velasquez was able to ride Pleasant Colony to wins in the first two legs of the 1981 Triple Crown but could not take home the big prize, finishing third in the 1981 Belmont Stakes. 

Spectacular Bid almost gave us back-to-back Triple Crown winners, but it was not to be as mismanagement of the horse in the Belmont led to Spectacular Bid finishing third in that race.

Trained by legendary Cuban-born trainer Laz Barrera, Affirmed was named American Horse of the Year in both 1978 and 1979 and was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1980, the same year of his retirement. Barrrera has gone on record saying Affirmed is the greatest racehorse of all the Triple Crown winners.

The only horse to win the Triple Crown while still boasting an undefeated record, Seattle Slew became the 10th horse to accomplish the feat in 1977. The horse won 14 of the 17 races he participated in during his career and was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1981.

After the racing world saw seven Triple Crown winners over an 18-year period, it was not until 25 years later that another would emerge. In 1973, Secretariat brought the public’s attention back to horse racing. The thoroughbred won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes all in record times that still stand to this day. In fact, in 1999, ESPN named Secretariat the 35th best athlete of the 20th century. Not too shabby for a horse.

The first racehorse ever to win more than $1 million in his career, Citation was one of the 20th century’s most prolific racehorses. The 1948 Triple Crown winner is one of only three horses in North American history to win 16 consecutive major stakes race competitions. Citiation was posthumously honored by Blood Horse Magazine as the third-greatest horse of the 20th century.

Despite being described as “delicate” by his jockey, Eddie Arcaro (who actually rode Assault after he won the Triple Crown, as Warren Mehrtens was the Triple Crown jockey), and constantly suffering injuries throughout his career, thoroughbred racehorse Assault won the 1946 Triple Crown. The only horse ever bred and foaled in Texas to win a Triple Crown, Assault was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1964.

Owned by rental car company businessman John D. Hertz, Count Fleet became the sixth U.S. Triple Crown winner, in 1943. Count Fleet won the Crown in dominating fashion, as he won the 1943 Belmont Stakes by a total of 25 lengths, a record that would stand for 30 years.

The only horse ever to win the Triple Crown and the Travers Stakes, Whirlaway enjoyed a long and successful career on the tracks. The horse, which was voted United States Horse of the Year in 1941 and 1942, won 32 of the 60 races he participated in. Whirlaway was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1959.

Horse racing fans had to wait only two years before another Triple Crown winner emerged. In 1937 War Admiral, the nephew of legendary racehorse Seabiscuit, became the fourth horse ever to win the Triple Crown. War Admiral won an astonishing 23 of the 26 races he ever ran.

The son of Gallant Fox, Omaha was the third horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown, in 1935. Just like his father, Omaha was trained by James E. Fitzsimmons and won nine of his 22 career races. Omaha was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1965.

The second horse to become a Triple Crown winner was a bay horse named Gallant Fox. Under the care of famed thoroughbred trainer James E. Fitzsimmons, Gallant Fox won 11 of the 17 races he ran. In fact, the term “Triple Crown” had not been coined until the New York Times used it to describe Gallant Fox’s unique accomplishment in 1930.

The first winner of the Triple Crown was a chestnut thoroughbred colt by the name of Sir Barton. Sir Barton and his jockey, Johnny Loftus, accomplished the feat, dominating all three legs of the Triple Crown in the process.