Betting The Horses

The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing is a three-part series of Thoroughbred horse races for 3-year-old horses.  The Triple Crown races are run in May and June.  The three races of the Triple Crown are the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes.

The term “Triple Crown” was originally given to the series of races by Charles Hatton in 1930.  Hatton was a writer for the Daily Racing Form.

There have only been 11 winners of the Triple Crown in the history of the races.  There hasn’t been a horse to take the title since 1978.  Sunny J. Fitzsimmons is the only horse trainer to have won the Triple Crown twice and was been a Triple Crown betting favorite in his hay days, while D. Wayne Lukas was the only trainer to take the races with different horses.

The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown.  It is run the first Saturday in May.  Next is the Preakness Stakes, run on the third Saturday in May.  Last is the Belmont Stakes run the third Saturday following the Preakness Stakes.  The first time the Triple Crown was possible was the first year of the Kentucky Derby, 1875.  The first time a Triple Crown was won was in 1919 by Sir Barton.

Winners of the Triple Crown are: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), and Affirmed (1978).

The current drought is the longest drought in Triple Crown history. There hasn’t been a winner of all 3 races since 1978, making this a 31-year drought.