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Affirmed, ridden by jockey Steve Cauthen, pulls ahead of Alydar to win the Belmont
Stakes, June 10, 1978 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. (AP).
Stakes, June 10, 1978 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. (AP).
Big Brown Loses, 30-Year Triple Crown Drought Continues
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Longshot Da'Tara won Saturday's Belmont Stakes as Big Brown became the 11th horse in 30 years to fall short after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown. No horse has won it since Affirmed in 1978.
30-Second Summary
The racing world struggles today to understand how Big Brown could have been so good winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and so bad losing the Belmont Stakes. We analyze his races and those of the 17 other horses who have won two legs of the Triple Crown since 1978 to arrive at an understanding of why the Triple Crown is so elusive.
We also provide links to race videos and related articles about each of the 18 horses.
For our full article devoted to Big Brown's loss, click here.
In 1978, Affirmed beat Alydar in the Belmont Stakes to win the Triple Crown. Following closely on the heels of Seattle Slew and Secretariat, Affirmed was the third Triple Crown winner in six years.
The following year, Spectacular Bid dominated the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and it appeared that having a Triple Crown winner would become almost an annual rite.
But Spectacular Bid came up short, starting a Triple Crown drought that has last ever since. In those 30 years, 18 horses won two legs of the Triple Crown, including 11 who won the first two and came to Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line. Perhaps even more daunting is the fact that only three horses have won the Triple Crown in 60 years.
Some encountered an unfavorable track condition; others suffered from a bad trip or a bad day. Several were left staggering by a heated internal duel and beaten by a long-shot. Still others quite simply lost to a quality foe who, at least on one day, was simply the better horse.
In each section, the race names are colored hyperlinks. Click the race name to display a video of the race. Or click here to access the official Kentucky Derby channel on YouTube, which offers high-quality replays of the race back to 1982, and click here to access official Belmont Stakes replays back to 1970, and for all Triple Crown winners except Sir Barton.
To learn everything there is to know about Horse Racing, visit our Web Guide to Horse Racing.
We also provide links to race videos and related articles about each of the 18 horses.
For our full article devoted to Big Brown's loss, click here.
In 1978, Affirmed beat Alydar in the Belmont Stakes to win the Triple Crown. Following closely on the heels of Seattle Slew and Secretariat, Affirmed was the third Triple Crown winner in six years.
The following year, Spectacular Bid dominated the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and it appeared that having a Triple Crown winner would become almost an annual rite.
But Spectacular Bid came up short, starting a Triple Crown drought that has last ever since. In those 30 years, 18 horses won two legs of the Triple Crown, including 11 who won the first two and came to Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line. Perhaps even more daunting is the fact that only three horses have won the Triple Crown in 60 years.
Some encountered an unfavorable track condition; others suffered from a bad trip or a bad day. Several were left staggering by a heated internal duel and beaten by a long-shot. Still others quite simply lost to a quality foe who, at least on one day, was simply the better horse.
In each section, the race names are colored hyperlinks. Click the race name to display a video of the race. Or click here to access the official Kentucky Derby channel on YouTube, which offers high-quality replays of the race back to 1982, and click here to access official Belmont Stakes replays back to 1970, and for all Triple Crown winners except Sir Barton.
To learn everything there is to know about Horse Racing, visit our Web Guide to Horse Racing.
History of the Triple Crown
Although each of the three races in the Triple Crown have been run since the 1870s, racing fans did not begin to think of the three races as a series until the 1920s. After Gallant Fox won all three races in 1930, racing writers noted that he joined Sir Barton as the only two horses to win the Triple Crown.
Source: Albany Law School
Six more horses joined this elite group over the next 18 years. No horse won the Triple Crown again until Secretariat in 1973, flowed quickly by Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. Thus, only three horses have completed the sweep in 60 years. To learn more, view the Thoroughbred Times’s video on the history of the Triple Crown.
Source: Thoroughbred Times
1978: Affirmed - The Last Horse to Win the Triple Crown
Affirmed and Alydar had one of horse racing’s greatest rivalries, meeting eight times prior to the 1978 Belmont and almost always finishing first and second in a close race. Affirmed won the Derby by a little more than a length, and the Preakness by a neck, with Alydar closing quickly in each. In the Belmont Stakes, Alydar engaged Affirmed with nearly a mile to go, and the two raced as a tandem to the wire. Alydar gained a brief, narrow lead with one-eighth of a mile to go, but Affirmed, under the ride of 16 year-old Steve Cauthen, prevailed by a head. Legendary trainer Woody Stephens told Sports Illustrated it was “probably the best horse race that’s ever been run.”
Source: Sports Illustrated
Alydar finally turned the tables on Affirmed - during their stud careers. While Affirmed had only modest success as a stallion, Alydar sired several champions, including Kentucky Derby winners Alysheba and Strike Gold, and Belmont Stakes winner Easy Goer. Spiletta.com, as part of its "Unofficial Thoroughbred Hall of Fame," discusses Alydar's success as a sire.
Source: Spilletta.com
1979: Spectacular Bid
In 1979, Spectacular Bid won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness easily, despite an inexperienced jockey, Ronnie Franklin. Before the Belmont, it seemed likely that Bid would be the third straight Triple Crown winner and the fourth in seven years. Racing insiders wondered why there was such a wave of winners after a 25-year gap. “I can't think of any logical reason for more Triple Crown horses lately,” said owner Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. “And if we do get a third in a row this year, I think it’s mostly chance.”
Source: Time magazine
In the Belmont, Spectacular Bid entered the backstretch second behind 80-1 shot Gallant Best, and Franklin sent Spectacular Bid surging to the lead. Coastal, “one of those lightly raced colts that periodically come out of old-line barns to waste Belmont pretenders,” engaged him in the stretch and Bid had nothing left in the tank. After the race, most observers blamed Franklin for sending Bid too early.
Source: Sports Illustrated
1981: Pleasant Colony
In 1981, Pleasant Colony won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness by narrow margins. But in the Belmont Stakes, Summing, who was well-bred for the distance but overlooked by his competitors, set a slow pace and opened up an insurmountable lead entering the stretch. Pleasant Colony put in his usual late run but finished third, less than two lengths behind.
Source: Time
1984: Swale
In 1984, Swale, son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in dominant, wire-to-wire front-running performances. He was an inconsistent horse, however, and Pimlico’s lightning-fast track was not to his liking; the 8-10 favorite finished a disappointing seventh in the Preakness. Eight days after the Belmont, the racing world was stunned when Swale suddenly dropped dead, for reasons never known, after a light workout at Belmont Park.
Source: Sports Illustrated
1987: Alysheba
In 1987, Alysheba prevailed in the Kentucky Derby despite being dropped to his knees in the homestretch by an erratic Bet Twice in front of him. He again ran down Bet Twice in the Preakness and seemed a sure bet in the Belmont. However, Alysheba required the diuretic drug Lasix to perform at his best, and it was banned in New York at the time. The hot, muggy Belmont day ensured that Alysheba would not run his best, and Bet Twice won the race by nearly 15 lengths.
Source: The New York Times
1988: Risen Star
In 1988, Risen Star, a son of Secretariat, ran away to devastating wins in the Preakness and Belmont, the latter by 15 lengths in fast time. Unfortunately, Risen Star had suffered a grueling trip in the Kentucky Derby and finished third to Winning Colors.
Source: New York Times
1989: Sunday Silence
In 1989, Sunday Silence won the Kentucky Derby over heavy favorite Easy Goer and beat him again in the Preakness by a nose. His Hall-of-Fame trainer, Charlie Whittingham, appeared ready to put a Triple Crown exclamation point on the end of his forty-year career.
Source: Sports Illustrated
In the Belmont Stakes, Le Voyageur, a regally-bred foreign horse (by Seattle Slew out of Davona Dale, herself a Filly Triple Crown winner), set a strong pace. With a Triple Crown on the line, Sunday Silence’s jockey Pat Valenzuela was forced to attack the front runner entering the far turn; Easy Goer’s Pat Day was able to lay in wait and made a single explosive run entering the stretch and pulled away to an easy victory in the second fastest time ever in the Belmont Stakes. Many racing experts believe that Sunday Silence and Easy Goer were two of the best three-year olds of the past 30 years, and that either one of them would have won the Triple Crown in almost any other year.
Source: New York Times
1991: Hansel
In 1991, Hansel was favored to win the Kentucky Derby based on a track-record setting performance in the Jim Beam Stakes, followed by a third place finish in his next start. But he was listless throughout the Derby, which was won by Strike the Gold. Unable to explain the defeat, his trainer, Frank Brothers, decided to skip the Preakness with Hansel. But the horse rebounded in his training, and Brothers' mentor, Jack Van Berg convinced him to run in the Preakness. Respecting his elder paid off for Brothers, as Hansel destroyed the Preakness field by 7 lengths to give Jerry Bailey his first win in a Triple Crown race. Three weeks later, Hansel held off a wild late rush by Strike the Gold to win the Belmont Stakes by a head.
Source: The New York Times
1994: Tabasco Cat
In the mid-1990s, Wayne Lukas won six Triple Crown races in a row, but with four different horses. In 1994, he won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with Tabasco Cat, after rival Go for Gin had sailed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby.
Source: New York Times
1995: Thunder Gulch
In 1995, Lukas’ Thunder Gulch won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, but his Timber Country won the Preakness, with Thunder Gulch finishing third.
Source: Sports Illustrated
1997: Silver Charm
After eight years without a Triple Crown candidate, Bob Baffert’s Silver Charm gave horse racing a much-needed publicity boost. He won the Kentucky Derby in a thrilling three-way duel with Free House and Captain Bodgit, and the Preakness by a fast-diminishing nose over Captain Bodgit. With Captain Bodgit sidelined, Silver Charm outdueled Free House into the stretch of the Belmont Stakes, only to yield the lead in the final fifty yards to Touch Gold. Many racing experts use "Beyer Numbers" to compare horses; Silver Charm had among the highest Beyer numbers of any horse to run in the Triple Crown in the past 15 years.
Source: Sports Illustrated
1998: Real Quiet
In 1998, Baffert was back with Real Quiet, who won the Derby and Preakness over Victory Gallop. In the Belmont Stakes, Real Quiet assumed a commanding lead into the stretch, but Victory Gallop unleashed a furious rally and caught Real Quiet near the finish line. Tom Durkin had the call: “Here’s the wire … it’s too close to call! Was it Real Quiet or was it Victory Gallop? A picture is worth a thousand words; this photo is worth five million dollars. Oh, no! History in the waiting, on hold ‘til we get that photo finish.” The photo showed that history had to wait at least another year, as Real Quiet was beaten by a nose.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Mike Pegram, who made his fortune through McDonald's franchises, was the colorfull and quotable owner of Real Quiet. In a recent interview with the Evansville Courier & Press, he discusses losing the Triple Crown by a nose: "that was a nasty beat. But you take a deep breath, realize you have all your friends with you, and you move on. Most people don't get to breathe that kind of air." Pegram's sunny outlook may come in part from the fact that he owns Midnight Lute, a son of Real Quiet who won the Breeder's Cup Sprint in 2007.
Source: Evansville Courier & Press
1999: Charismatic
In 1999, Charismatic, owned by the same couple who owned Silver Charm, came from nowhere to win the Derby at 30-1, and impressively repeated in the Preakness. In the Belmont, he led with a furlong to go but got caught by winner Lemon Drop Kid. Immediately after the race, jockey Chris Antley jumped off the horse and held up his left front leg. The leg was broken in two spots, but Antley’s actions saved Charismatic’s life.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Tragically, Antley, whose triumph in the Kentucky Derby appeared to be the culmination of comeback from substance abuse, died 18 months later from a drug overdose.
Source: The Blood Horse
2001: Point Given
In 2001, Point Given, as Kentucky Derby favorite, raced too close to the fastest pace ever and faded to fourth. He went on to easily win the Preakness and then to a stunning 12-length triumph in the Belmont Stakes, leaving his connections to ponder forever what went wrong in the Derby.
Source: Sports Illustrated
2002: War Emblem
In 2002, longshot War Emblem, who was purchased and turned over to Bob Baffert after winning in the Illinois Derby, won the Kentucky Derby wire-to-wire after setting an easy pace . He then barely held on to win the Preakness Stakes. In the Belmont, he never looked right on the track, and went to his knees at the break, eliminating all chance of winning. His rider persevered and put the horse on the lead with a half-mile to go to give the crowd a very fleeting thrill, as War Emblem tired badly and finished eighth.
Source: New York Times
2003: Funny Cide
In 2003, Funny Cide used a ground-saving trip to beat rival Empire Maker in the Kentucky Derby and, with Empire Maker sitting out the Preakness, he destroyed the field. A horse from modest beginnings, owned by a group of old high school friends, became “the people’s horse.” On Belmont day, however, the skies opened up and produced a sloppy track that Funny Cide did not relish. Jose Santos could never get him to relax and nurse his speed, and Empire Maker overtook Funny Cide on the far turn and prevailed.
Source: Sports Illustrated
2004: Smarty Jones
In 2004, undefeated Smarty Jones won the Derby and the Preakness by 11 lengths. The popular horse “surged across demographic boundaries with a series of implausible stories—not just the ailing owner but also the hard-luck jockey, the journeyman trainer and the colt’s ghastly starting-gate accident last summer.” But in the Belmont Stakes, the feel-good story had an unhappy ending. After a sensible first half mile, Smarty Jones engaged Purge, the front runner who had a legitimate shot of a stellar win in the Peter Pan Stakes for trainer Todd Pletcher. But right as Smarty Jones passed Purge, he was engaged by Eddington, and then Rock Hard Ten. He ran a grueling three-quarter mile segment of the race more than a second faster than Secretariat had. Unlike Secretariat, Smarty Jones had nothing left for the stretch, and wilted when longshot Birdstone collared him a mere 70 yards from history.
Source: MSNBC
2005: Afleet Alex
In the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Afleet Alex had a very troubled trip and was part of a long duel down the backstretch and into the far turn of the Kentucky Derby. He weakened in the final 1/16 and was overcome by 50-1 shot Giacomo. In the Preakness, he proved he was the class of that year’s Triple Crown when he won despite being knocked to his knees by a drifting horse entering the stretch. He then ran the Belmont much like Big Brown did the Derby and Preakness: he sat chilly in third place until they entered the stretch, and then ran away with ease.
Source: NBC Sports
2008: Big Brown
Big Brown defied history by winning the 2008 Kentucky Derby in only his fourth career start, while breaking from Post 20. In the Preakness Stakes, he waltzed to a 5 1/2 length win over an overmatched field. Big Brown suffered a quarter crack in his hoof while preparing for the Belmont Stakes, but his controversial connections remained confident that he would break the drought. When the race started, though, Big Brown looked very uncomfortable and was rank in the early going. Running third on the backstretch, he lacked his customary acceleration on the far turn and was eased by jockey Kent Desormeaux. “I had no horse,” said Desormeaux.
Source: Baltimore Sun
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