So, where exactly does that leave this year's Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown? Is there a "Test of the Champion" this year? Is there a Triple Crown this year?...
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So, why in the world would Turcotte, still on cloud nine and basking in the blinding limelight of his history making victory, ride in the race following the Belmont Stakes?...
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We should get an indication of how horsemen look at the Belmont Stakes when Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh announce their plans for Matt Winn (G3) winner Maxfield....
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With NBC continuing its trip down memory lane by showing American Pharoah's 2015 Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16, I thought we'd also take a trip down memory lane by going behind the scenes of all three Triple Crown races and showcasing some of the more memorable moments....
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It was just me, American Pharoah, and Jimmy Barnes with not another soul around in as intimate a moment as I could ever recall with a Derby favorite....
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There are a lot of decisions to be made in the next few weeks or months regarding the rescheduling of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and the ramifications it will have on the other two Triple Crown races and several major race meets, especially Saratoga. ...
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It was only a matter of time that we had a Belmont winner infused with the blood of the Gainesway Farm stallion Afleet Alex. It was 14 years ago that Alex's Cinderella story touched the heart of the nation, culminating with a rousing seven-length romp in the "Test of the Champion."...
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Try to imagine how tough it is to win a Triple Crown race. Then try to imagine winning two of the three legs. Then try to imagine winning two of the three legs with two different horses. In the past half century you can count on one hand the number of times that has been accomplished....
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With the Derby trail in full swing, the highlight of the week did not take place on the racetrack, but on the internet, and had nothing to do with this year's perplexing Kentucky Derby picture. But it did have something to do with the Derby and the Triple Crown. A visit to Amazon.com revealed the long-awaited news that Lenny Shulman's book on Justify was available for pre-sale. We have seen a number...
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As I prepare for the latest onslaught of Derby horses and Derby performances and the same old trainer names, I have come to the stark realization that nothing is the same as it was. Gone is the old formulated thinking. Gone is the same old logic. And gone are the same old historical perspectives.
And there is one horse responsible for that. His name is Justify. ...
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In the days leading up to the 1979 Belmont Stakes, with Spectacular Bid having dominated his opposition in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, if someone had asked you to give thanks that we were about to witness a Triple Crown winner, you might have been inclined to laugh in their face....
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There have always been three stages when it comes to the Kentucky Derby trail. But they have changed dramatically over the years....
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How does a horse establish a legacy in six starts, only four of them stakes?...
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In the realm of history, Justify has become a pioneer. He did more than just sweep the Triple Crown a mere 16 weeks after making his career debut and do it without having raced as a 2-year-old, and win the Kentucky Derby with only three lifetime starts. In many ways, he has made us shut the history books for good....
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Our thoughts turn to the second wave of 3-year-olds, who were late developing and appear to be coming into their own, and should be peaking in August. This is where we find the Arrogates and the West Coasts and the V.E. Days....
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History is a never-ending chain of events, trends, and discoveries that determine how we think and look at the present, and often the future. When history tells us something cannot be accomplished, it provides us with new and seemingly unreachable targets at which to aim. And if and when that target is hit, it provides a sense of timelessness and perpetuity. Some call it immortality....
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It was the morning of the 1988 Belmont Stakes and all was not well in the Belmont stakes barn, a four-sided barn encircling an English-style courtyard. In a corner of the barn, Risen Star’s troublesome ankle was being tubbed in ice, and it was still to be determined whether the handsome, strapping son of Secretariat would be able to run in the Test of the Champion....
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In some ways it seemed appropriate that all we saw of Justify in the stretch of the Preakness Stakes was a ghostly shroud, with his white silks and white face, emerging from the murk that had settled on Pimlico Race Course. This colt has been shrouded in mystery since he burst on the scene in mid-February as if conjured up by some magical potion. Where did this powerhouse of a horse come from? How...
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The field of runners embarking on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail, have gathered, like the massive throng on the Verrazano Bridge before the start of the New York Marathon, and they are now five days into their annual assault on Churchill Downs that will involve four months of blissful torture for owners and trainers who envision the blanket of roses draped over their horse's withers on the First Saturday in May, but are fearful of the many pitfalls that stand in their path. This is the time when every early morning phone call brings a feeling of dread....
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As a historian and traditionalist, I have stated on several occasions that I am a firm believer, as were the trainers of the past, in starting a horse's 3-year-old campaign in a sprint to sharpen him up for the rigors of the Triple Crown trail, especially those with extensive 2-year-old campaigns competing at two turns at the highest level. ...
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Why spend a million dollars on an untried yearling with an uncertain future when you can buy a piece of history that will endure forever? We're not talking just any piece of history, but items that represent three superstars of The Turf, Secretariat, Dr. Fager, and Arts and Letters. ...
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It was 1973, and America was desperately looking for a sports hero. By June they had found one in the form of a flashy powerful chestnut horse named Secretariat, who was so popular he appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek , and Sports Illustrated in the same week. And this was before his iconic procession into history in the Belmont Stakes, in which he became the first horse in 25 years to sweep...
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So, here we are at the end of the road--the often unpredictable Belmont Stakes, without the Kentucky Derby or Preakness winner, without the favorite Classic Empire, a late defection; and with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the head of the Japanese invader Epicharis, the morning line second choice. The favorite is a horse who was beaten 16 1/2 lengths in the Kentucky Derby and who wasn't even going to run in the Belmont until his trainer had a change of heart....
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Throughout the 1960s and '70s, the name Darby Dan Farm and the Galbreath family were synonymous with the Triple Crown, especially the Kentucky Derby....
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Winston Churchill once said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” No one can really put into words the centuries-long bond between horses and humans, especially the emotional and sometimes mystical attachment we have had with these magnificent creatures throughout history. But there are times when Churchill’s quote is taken to a far deeper level, and...
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