Triple Crown Winners 1

BARGAIN BRED RACING SERIES & BREEDING CORNER

Triple Crown Winners Part 1

It seems very likely that this weekend Smarty Jones could become the twelfth Triple Crown winner. This got me to thinking about the eleven Triple Crown winners. What were they like? How did they fair in the breeding shed? How would one define the success of a stallion that stood in the 1930’s or 1940’s? This article will take a look at the first eight Triple Crown winners.

The first Triple Crown winner came in 1919. Sir Barton was 0 for 6 as a two-year-old and made his three-year-old debut in the Kentucky Derby. He only went to the derby to act as a rabbit for stable mate Billy Kelly and ended up winning by five lengths. He won the Preakness four days later and also won the Withers before going on to win the Belmont. He retired to stud in 1920 and had only moderate success at stud.

Our second Triple Crown winner came along in 1930. Gallant Fox only won two races in seven starts as a two-year-old but he was being pointed for the classics as a three-year-old. He won nine of ten as a three-year-old. He first won the Preakness on May 9 then the Kentucky Derby eight days later then the Belmont on June 7. He retired to stud after his three-year-old campaign. His first couple of crops produced the third Triple Crown winner Omaha and also sired a Belmont stakes winner. His crops there after were not near as successful.

Omaha was the third Triple Crown winner in 1935. He won the Derby May 4^th then won the Preakness a week later. He then lost in the Withers before going on to win the Belmont on June 8^th. As a four-year-old he went to England to race. He won a couple of races there and finished second in the Ascot Gold Cup. He was a failure at stud. He lived the last nine years of his life on a farm in Nebraska and was buried at the Aksarben racetrack in Omaha Nebraska.

War Admiral was the fourth Triple Crown winner in 1937. He had a solid two-year-old season but was not the best two-year-old that year. He won a mile and a quarter allowance at Churchill four days before the derby. He went on to win the Derby, and the Preakness a week later. In the Belmont he stumbled from the gate injuring himself but still was able to win by four lengths. He ended his three-year-old season going eight for eight. He had another strong campaign as a four-year-old but did loose to Seabiscuit in a match race that year. He ended his career with twenty-one wins from twenty-six starts. He had moderate success at stud but faired much better as a dam sire.

Whirlaway was the fifth Triple Crown winner in 1941. He apparently walked a fine line between insane and sane. All of the previous Triple Crown winners raced on or near the pace. Whirlaway was a come from behind type that finally put everything together for the Derby winning by eight lengths. He would win the Preakness by five and a half and the Belmont by two and a half. AS a three-year-old he raced twenty times and as a four-year-old her ran twenty-two more to become the first horse to earn over $500,000. He had moderate success at stud but had to compete with Calumet’s best stud Bull Lea. He eventually ended up in France.

The sixth Triple Crown winner came in 1943. Count Fleet raced fifteen times as a two-year-old winning ten times. He would only race six more times and that cam in a span from April 13, 1943 to June 5, 1943. He won an allowance race then four days later the Wood Memorial. May 1 rolled around and he was the 2-5 favorite. He won the Preakness a week later then the Withers prior to the Belmont. The Belmont would be his last race. He was a grinding front runner and by the Belmont he had scared off any and all competition. He faced two allowance horses in the Belmont and won by twenty-five lengths two fifths faster than War Admiral’s track record. An injury later that year ended his career. He was a success at stud producing a couple of champions but his greatest success was as a dam sire.

Assault won the Triple Crown in 1946 becoming the seventh Triple Crown winner. He was plagued by injuries during his career. He only won two of nine starts as a two-year-old but put it together for the Triple Crown. He won the Derby by eight lengths and a week later took the Preakness by just a neck. Going into the Belmont there was talk that a mile and a half was too far for him. Assault stumbled from the gates in the Belmont and fell behind early. He made steady progress after that and exploded in the final 200 yards to win by three lengths. 1947 saw him win five of seven starts. He was retired in 1948 but was found to be sterile. He went back to the track after that and made a few more starts.

Citation took the Triple Crown in 1948 and is quite possibly one of the greatest racehorses ever to race in America. He won eight of nine starts as a two-year-old with a second. He won nineteen of twenty races as a three-year-old with one second. He opened up his three-year-old campaign with victories over older horses including the reigning horse of the year Armed. His only loss that year came in April when he cut back from a mile and an eighth to six furlongs on a muddy track and lost by a length. The horse that beat him was the only horse to defeat Citation in a span of two years, five months and ten days. He would win fifteen straight to end his three-year-old campaign. Injuries kept him from racing in 1949 as a four-year-old. He returned to the track in 1950 to win two and finish second seven times. He was only kept in training to become the first horse ever to earn a million dollars in purse money. He started the 1951 season with a couple of thirds a second and a fifth place finish. He would go on to win his final three starts including the Hollywood Gold Cup to push his earning over the million dollar mark. He had decent success at stud but was a better dam sire.

I would to tell you I spent hours and hours of research to come up with all this great information but in truth Thoroughbred Times made it very easy for me. They have an awesome link that goes much more in depth on each horse and is an excellent read. I will bring to you Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed soon. Here is the link…