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June 9, 2018, is a date we won’t soon forget, watching Justify become the 13th winner of the Triple Crown in front of 90,000-plus at Belmont Park. June 7, 2014, is a date we won’t forget either, but not because of what happened on the track. It’s what was said after California Chrome finished fourth in his bid for the Triple Crown. Co-owner ...

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 ...

Earlier this year, we recounted the iconic 4-year-old campaign of the great Dr. Fager in a five-part retrospective. Continuing our look back at 1968, and the 50th anniversary of one of the most unforgettable years in racing history, we turn our attention to the Belmont Stakes and the culmination of arguably the most controversial Triple Crown ...

Could it be that the Gunthers, John and his daughter Tanya, can perform the unthinkable -- sweep the Triple Crown with Justify, while breeding the first two finishers of the Belmont. Or they can possibly sweep the Triple Crown with two different horses they bred? Of course they want a Triple Crown sweep with Justify, but the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Ten horses. Twelve furlongs. History waiting at the finish line. Saturday's $1,500,000 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) promises to be one of the most anticipated races of the year thanks to the undefeated Justify, who will face off against nine rivals while seeking a rare sweep of the ...

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 ...

Muir Station Road, north of Lexington, runs from Paris Pike to Briar Hill Road. The road is an extension of the more-well-traveled Iron Works Pike, or Kentucky Route 1973. The week before the Belmont Stakes (G1), that makes us think of Secretariat and his definitive 31-length victory in the third leg of the Triple Crown in 1973.  At the ...

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 ...

As if the Triple Crown club—at just 12 winners—wasn't exclusive enough, the number of undefeated horses to sweep the American classics is so exclusive that—with only Seattle Slew accomplishing the feat—it's not even a club.Justify will look to become the 13th Triple Crown winner and second undefeated Triple Crown winner in the June 9 Belmont ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman With a little more than a week remaining until Justify seeks Triple Crown glory in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park, I thought now might be a good time to examine the potential pace of the race and how it might affect the outcome. Three years ago, when American Pharoah was ...