American Pharoah Wins Belmont, Ends 37 Year Triple Crown Drought

Ever since Affirmed won the 1978 Triple Crown, we’ve become accustomed every couple of years to seeing a horse win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, only to lose the longer Belmont Stakes. The Derby is 1-1/4 miles, the Preakness is 1-3/16 miles, and Belmont is 1-1/2 miles. A common scenario is that the horse jumps off to a lead, only to fade down the homestretch by a horse, or horses, with an end result of yet another year of no horse winning the Triple Crown.

Now in 2015, once again a horse won the Derby and Preakness, and would run in the Belmont to try and end the drought of Triple Crown winners, a dry spell that was up to 37 years. Since 1978, 12 horses have won the first two races only to lose at Belmont (a 13th horse, I’ll Have Another, was a late scratch at Belmont in 2012 due to a tendon problem). This year’s horse, of course is American Pharoah, and yes his official name is misspelled which drives spellcheck crazy.

We expected to see American Pharoah get off to a good start, only to flame out on the homestretch, so it was no surprise when he took the lead immediately, and maintained it as the race moved into its final stages. But then, instead of fading, American Pharoah actually increased his lead and won the race by 5-1/2 lengths, and with the victory, we finally had a Triple Crown winner, ending the longest gap ever between winners.

The first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, won it in 1919. It was 11 years before Gallant Fox won it in 1930. Between 1930 and 1948, there were seven Triple Crown winners; but after Citation won in 1948, there were no other winners until Secretariat in 1973. Seattle Slew won the 1977 Crown, followed by Affirmed in ’78, the only time there have been winners in consecutive years. Will we have another winner in a year or two or three, as had happened in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’70s?  Or will we wait decades again?