BARGAIN BRED RACING SERIES & BREEDING CORNER

Triple Crown Winners Part 2

If you enjoyed part one of the Triple Crown winners I hope you have gone to link at the bottom of the page and read the much more in depth bios provided by the Thoroughbred Times. They do such a great job of giving one an idea of the culture and atmosphere that surrounded each Triple Crown winner. If you have not read part one scroll down the page I think you will enjoy the reading. Here I will take a look at what I would call the modern era Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed.

Secretariat blew onto the scene in 1972. His first start was fittingly on the fourth of July in 1972. He had trouble from the start in that race being bumped and pinched off but made a strong late run to finish fourth. He went on to win eight of his next nine starts. His only loss was a disqualification in the Champagne. He became only the third two-year-old ever to be named Horse of the Year. He won his first two starts as a three-year-old before turning in a sub par run in the Wood Memorial. He was still the favorite on Derby day and won in track record time of 1:59-2/5. He would go on to win the Preakness in track record time. The Belmont was maybe Secretariat’s defining moment. After dueling through the first six furlongs in 1:09-4/5 he would pull away to win by thirty-one lengths and absolutely shattered the track record. He beat the old track record by 2-3/5 seconds. He would finish his career out winning two turf races as a three-year-old before retiring to stud. He produced ok at stud but Secretariat’s legacy will be passed along threw his daughters. He is the greatest broodmare sire or dam sire ever.

Seattle Slew became the tenth Triple Crown winner in 1977. In his two-year-old season he was brought along slowly. He did not make his debut until September 20, 1976. He would win allowance on October 5^th and then the Champagne eleven days later. He did not make his nest start until March 9,1977. He would win an allowance, The Flamingo, and the Wood prior to the derby. He was the first horse to win the Triple Crown with an undefeated record. He would race one more time as a three-year-old losing that race. He came back as a four-year-old with a new trainer and won five of seven starts finishing second twice. He defeated Affirmed in a battle of Triple Crown winners in the Marlboro Cup. He ended his career with fourteen wins from seventeen starts. He retired to stud after his four-year-old season. As most of you know he was great as a stud.

Affirmed came along just one year after Seattle Slew to become the eleventh Triple Crown winner. His Triple Crown run was highlighted by the great rivalry between Affirmed and Alydar. They squared off six times as two-year-olds with Affirmed getting the better of Alydar 4-2. They each went their separate ways to prepare for the Kentucky Derby. Affirmed went to California while Alydar went to Florida. They both had great springs and set up a much-anticipated match up in the Derby. The Derby turned out to be the least climatic race in the Triple Crown with Affirmed winning by a length and a half. In the Preakness the two were on even terms at the top of the stretch and dueled the length of the stretch with Affirmed winning by a neck. In the Belmont the two were about on even terms with six furlongs to go and battled the entire way home with Affirmed gutting it out to beat Alydar. He would go on to defeat Alydar one more time that year but was disqualified for interference. He also lost to Seattle Slew and finished fifth when his saddle slipped in another race. He came back as a four year old and started off kind of slow with a third and a second. He under went a rider change after that as Laffit Pincay Jr replaced Steve Cauthen. He would not lose again winning six straight grade I races becoming the first horse to ever win more than two million in purses. He was over shadowed as a stud by his rival Alydar but he did produce a few champions and was a solid dam sire as well.

The thing that strikes me the most is that most of the Triple Crown winners were only mediocre at stud. The first eight Triple Crown winners were from a different era when breeding just was not what it is today. So maybe some of the early Triple Crown winners did not get as good an opportunity to be successful. While the Triple Crown winner’s themselves were able to produce good horses all but Seattle Slew failed to produce a son that would carry the line on for generations to come. Both Affirmed and Secretariat still have sons at stud but none of them seem poised to continue their respective lines.

Another striking thing is how many of the Triple Crown winners turned out to be great dam sires. Can you believe there is still a horse available to breed a two-year-old, with Citation as the dam sire. It seems as though these great horses passed their talent along through their daughters rather than their sons. Secretariat for instance is the dam sire of Seattle Slew’s most prominent son A.P.Indy. He is also the dam sire of one of Mr. Prospector’s most prominent sons Gone West. He is also the dam sire of one of Northern Dancer’s most influential grandson Storm Cat.

I can’t really speak of the early Triple Crown winners but most of the Triple Crown winners were not what you would consider royally bred. Very often it was a speed influenced sire paired with stamina influenced dam that produced a unique blend of speed and stamina. The Triple Crown winners peaked at the right time and even though other horses caught up to them as they got older they still maintained a certain level of excellence.

In this day of modern racing the task of winning the Triple Crown is harder than ever. Sports science has come a long way with supplements, equine medicine and training techniques. There are a lot of capable sires producing many runners every year with lots of good trainers and jockeys to train and ride them. Very often a horse will face new rivals every step of the way in the Triple Crown. Now add another measuring stick that past winners have not had to stand up to, The Breeder’s Cup. What will a failure in the Breeder’s Cup classic do to a Triple Crown winner? What if a Triple Crown winner skips the Breeder’s Cup? On the other hand if the Triple Crown winner goes on to win the Breeder’s Cup Classic….

I had not really known much about the past Triple Crown winners. One of the great things about horse racing is its rich and storied history. Learning more of the history makes witnessing history that much sweeter.