The Triple Crown - the mark of a champion - is California Chrome one?

.

California Chrome wins Kentucky Derby

As California Chrome enters the starting gate in the number 2 pole position, it will make the third straight race in which this invader from California will have the exact pole position in each race as the greatest Triple Crown winner of all time, Secretariat in 1973.  Both Secretariat and California Chrome were assigned post position #5 in the Kentucky Derby, #3 in the Preakness and #2 in the Belmont.  Destiny?  Fate?  Or luck?

The Triple Crown has three races of over a mile against the best horses in the world during a five week period and is the true test of champions. In the 140 years since the Kentucky Derby began only 11 horses have won the coveted Triple Crown. It has been 36 years since the last Triple Crown champion, Affirmed in 1978, the longest drought ever between Triple Crown champions.

Secretariat wins Belmont by mile

Since Affirmed won in 1978 eleven horses have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes but none won the Belmont Stakes to claim the Triple Crown. The closest was Real Quiet in 1998 who lost by a nose in the Belmont.  In fact, more people have walked on the moon than there have been horses winning the Triple Crown.

Secretariat at play in Kentucky

Now no horse will ever be the champion like Secretariat in 1973 who blazed to glory winning the three races by a record total of 36 lengths. It had been 25 years since the previous Triple Crown winner and to this day Secretariat holds the records in the Derby and Belmont, and would be the record holder in the Preakness except for a freak breakdown of timing devices in the race.

Affirmed  beats Alydar by nose in Belmont

As for the last winner, Affirmed, his legendary races against Alydar rank as the best competition of all time. Alydar was the only horse to ever finish 2nd in all three races and in the Belmont when Affirmed was going for the Triple Crown they were nose to nose at the finish line with Affirmed winning in a photo finish by a nose. In all three races the two horses finished just two lengths apart.

According to Fox News this will be a banner year for the Belmont track and the State of New York.

Here is some of what Fox had to say about the Triple Crown excitement.

California Chrome is the 12th horse to reach Long Island with wins in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, since Affirmed won all three in 1978.

Attendance for those 11 races averaged nearly 30,000 more than in years without a contender -- going from a low of 37,171 in 1995 when Thunder Gulch and Timber Country split the Derby and the Preakness, to a record 120,139 in 2004 when Birdstone upset Smarty Jones in the last of a three-year stretch of Triple Crown contenders in the Belmont Stakes.

On-site wagering on the race-day program also surged in those years, according to track records, jumping from $6.8 million in contender-less 1996 to $9.2 million the following year when Silver Charm took the first two races, and from $8.8 million in contender-less 2007 to $13.3 million when Big Brown raced for history in 2008.

I'll Have Another's wins in Louisville and Baltimore sent attendance for the 2012 Belmont Stakes to nearly 86,000 and on-site wagering to $13.8 million even though the horse was withdrawn the day before the race due to a leg injury.

The head of the track's management team said ticket sales for this year's Belmont Stakes, with its emphasis on high-level racing and daylong entertainment, were already brisk before California Chrome broke from the gate at Churchill Downs in May.

More than 70 percent of tickets and premium tables for the race were sold before the Derby and all were gone before the Preakness, according to New York Racing Association president and chief executive officer Christopher Kay.

After the Preakness, Kay said, they added a trackside tent and additional seating to accommodate the surge of interest in a potential California Chrome coronation.

General admission and grandstand tickets costing $10 remained available through the track late in the week and more than 3,000 tickets, ranging from $12 for grandstand to $2,300 for a table for two at the Garden Terrace Restaurant, were available on the secondary ticket sales website StubHub.com.

Good weather -- 82 degrees and sunny, according to the National Weather Service -- could push the crowd into record territory.

"Our intent is to make Belmont Stakes day an important day year in and year out," Kay said.

This year it has been an important day -- and week -- for business.

The largest hotel on Long Island, a Marriott with more than 600 rooms in Uniondale, and the ornate Garden City Hotel --  where management said all of the owners, trainers and jockeys in the Belmont Stakes were staying and where the menu includes a cocktail named for each horse -- have sold out under race-related demand.

Other hotels were also booked solid, officials said, forcing some out-of-town fans to find lodging in Suffolk County, about 20 miles east, or stay in Manhattan, about 15 miles west.

"This Triple Crown opportunity doesn't come too often," state hotel association chairman John Tsunis said. "But, whoever wins in the race, the real winners will be Long Island and New York State

The Final Leg of The Triple Crown

It is the final leg of the Triple Crown and this year for the first time a jockey, not the horse may be the winner. Calvin Borel won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird (pictured above) and the Preakness on Rachel Alexandra and returns to Mine That Bird for the Belmont, the favorite horse. Borel is trying to be the firrst jockey in history to win the Triple Crown on different horses.


Certain to challenge for the win is Charitable Man who did not run in either of the previous races but has won 3 of 4 races at Bemont Park.

The most current odds are as follows:

Mine That Bird 2/3

Dunkirk 9/2

Charitable Man 7/2

Chocolate Candy 13/1

Flying Private 16/1

Mr. Hot Stuff 20/1

Brave Victory 25/1

Miners Escape 30/1

Summer Bird 25/1

Luv Gov 40/1

The following stories appeared in the credited sources and pretty much sum up the difficulty of winning this race.

By Bobby Smith

New York Racing Examiner

The race known as the Belmont Stakes is one of the biggest jokes in American sports. Like the two-party system, labor unions, Major League Baseball and print newspapers, it outlived its usefulness a while ago, yet still exists out of habit, coming up once again this Saturday, June 6.

The gross national product of a small country was suctioned out of 100,000 pockets when Big Brown was eased in it last year – while shooting for a sweep of the Triple Crown, no less. Why was he eased? No real answer was ever given. The horse that won last year’s Belmont Stakes – Da’ Tara -- hasn’t won since, which isn’t a surprise.

The mile-and-a-half distance grows more uncommon with every passing year that Thoroughbreds are mated, so uncommon horses tend to win the Belmont Stakes. Winners of the Belmont Stakes tend to disappear from the scene within weeks or months of their big moment. The general rule of thumb is, the better the winner, the sooner it will exit from competition. Under those rules, people need better reasons for showing up here (they do, however, exist. Read on.)

The 1984 winner, Swale, died mysteriously behind his shedrow two weeks after winning the race. In 1988, Risen Star never raced again after winning the Belmont Stakes by 15 lengths. Ever hear of Go and Go, the 1990 winner? Or Editor’s Note, the 1996 winner? How about Commendable, from 2000? Point Given and Empire Maker were retired with injuries within months after winning the race in 2001 and 2003. Afleet Alex, the 2005 winner, never raced again. Where is Jazil, the 2006 winner? Retired, and 0-for-3 after winning the race. The filly Rags to Riches ran one more time, finishing second three months later, after winning the 2007 Belmont Stakes.

The sport of Thoroughbred racing has over-promoted the Tiple Crown and “star power horses” in its many futile attempts to cultivate new fans. Fans are not necessary, and the New York Racing Association provides excellent proof of that as they exist despite Belmont Park attendances of only 3,500 during the week, and 7,000 on weekends. More proof that fans are not necessary was given when NYRA raised the price of admission and parking for Belmont Stakes Day by 500% a few years ago.

When there is no pending Triple Crown sweep – like this year – the 50% reduction in Belmont Stakes Day attendance is more than offset by the price the smaller crowd is willing to pay for the right to attend. Exactly what is that crowd getting that they couldn’t get on a regular day at the races? Nothing, really, but the people aren’t necessarily aware of that.The best thing about the Belmont Stakes is that it is one of many fine manifestations of the old Chicago song, “Saturday in the Park.”

The race itself isn’t a must-see as much as being there – regardless of the historical significance of the race itself -- is a tradition for the people on hand who can look past the hype, enjoy the moment with friends and family, and understand that the currency the track pays out for winning a bet on any of the other 10 races on the card is the same as it would be for picking the winning horse, exacta or trifecta in the Belmont Stakes. The Belmont Stakes itself is merely the big distraction. It means more to the many shady participants than it ever will to the viewers. What it’s all about is “People dancing, people laughing. A man selling ice cream. Singing Italian songs …Can you dig it ? (yes, I can). And I’ve been waiting such a long time. For Saturday.”


The following analysis is from the BoDogLife web page and provides further details about this year's Belmont.


Belmont Stakes Betting Tips‏ and Odds: The Belmont Stakes will be run for the 141st time Saturday, June 6th at spacious Belmont Park and the bettors are looking for any and all clues in trying to find the winner of the mile and a half classic. Longshots have dominated this race for the past 10 years, with the average winner's odds Belmont Stakes Odds at 20 to 1.

So, it goes without saying, it pays not to dismiss any one in this last leg of the Triple Crown. A few other trends should be noted when handicapping the Belmont Stakes, such as post position, where the inside posts were golden years ago, they are now a disadvantage since the last 4 winners have started from posts 7 or higher, and only one of the last 8 winners has been inside of the 7 hole, and that was Birdstone, who broke from stall # 4.

As mentioned, in previous years the inside post were considered the best because in a cleanly run race, with relatively small fields, the shortest distance to the wire at the end of a mile and a half, is on the rail. Recently, however, the fields for the Belmont Stakes have had more starters, so the outside is convenient because there is no traffic, and horses turning for home in full flight don't get impeded.

Another clue to picking the Belmont Stakes winner is that horses that have run in both of the Triple Crown races prior to the Belmont Stakes, have not performed too well at all, and conversely, the ones who skipped them , have made it into the winners circle. Only Afleet Alex, who ran in the Derby and Preakness, has done it in the last 7 years.That being said, horses that only ran in one Triple Crown race, have done very well as evidenced by 12 winner in the last 15 years. Of the three Triple Crown races, it seems the Derby and Preakness take jockey experience as a prerequisite for success, while the Belmont Stakes seem to embrace first time jockeys because 3 of the last 4 Belmont Stakes winners were piloted by rookie jocks.

Finally, breeding is one of the most important factors to utilize, especially because the Belmont Stakes distance is such a test of stamina, and in genetics, stamina usually begets stamina. A few examples, four of the last eight Belmont Stakes winners were sired by classic winners, two more were sired by Breeders Cup Classic winners, and just going through the Belmont winners list, there is a preponderance of Belmont winners sired by Belmont winners or out of dams sired by Belmont winners.