Will there be TRIPLE CROWN winner in 2010?

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.

Only eleven horses have ever won the Triple Crown, none since 1978. In 1973, Secretariat established the largest margin of victory in the history of American Grade 1 stakes races with a 31 length win. Of those eleven horses, Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons won the Triple Crown twice (the only trainer to do so), and an eleventh trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, scored a Triple Crown as a trainer in sweeping the 1995 races with different horses, the only individual in the Triple Crown to do so. Ten jockeys have won the Triple Crown.

The three American Classic Races are collectively known as the U.S. Triple Crown. As of the completion of the 2008 season, the races have attracted 3,889 entrants (a figure that counts a given horse twice if it enters two of the races). Of these, 274 horses have won a single leg of the Triple Crown, 50 horses have won two of the races (21 the Derby & Preakness, 18 the Preakness & Belmont, and 11 the Derby & Belmont), and 11 horses have won all three races. The 11 Triple Crown winners 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).

Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1931, the Preakness Stakes was run before the Kentucky Derby eleven times. On May 12, 1917 and again on May 13, 1922, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes were run on the same day.

At completion of the 2008 season, the three Triple Crown races have attracted 3,889 entrants. Of these, 274 horses have won a single leg of the Triple Crown, 50 horses have won two of the races (21 the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, 18 the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, and 11 the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes), and eleven horses have won all three races. Pillory won both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1922, a year when it was impossible to win the Triple Crown due to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes occurring on the same day.

There has not been a Triple Crown winner since June 7, 1978, and this is the longest drought in Triple Crown history. Since 1978, eleven horses have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Of those, Real Quiet has come the closest to winning the Triple Crown, losing the Belmont Stakes by a nose in 1998. Charismatic led the Belmont Stakes in the final furlong in 1999, but fractured his left front leg in the final stretch and fell back to third. The four most recent horses to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes but lose the Belmont Stakes were War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones in 2004, and Big Brown in 2008.

Several horses have won two of the three races since the last Triple Crown win, most recently Afleet Alex in 2005, who lost the Kentucky Derby but won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. The most unusual of those situations was in 1995, when Thunder Gulch won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and stablemate Timber Country won the Preakness Stakes. Both horses were trained by D. Wayne Lukas, making him the only Triple Crown-winning trainer without a Triple Crown-winning horse.

Only one horse, Alydar, has placed (second place) in all three races. He was defeated by Affirmed in all three races in 1978 by a combined margin of two lengths. In addition, Mane Minister finished third in each race in 1991, and Hawkster finished fifth in each race in 1989.

Gallant Fox is the only triple crown winner to sire another triple crown winner, Omaha.
On May 21, 2005, the Visa credit card company withdrew its sponsorship of the Triple Crown, effective in 2006.[citation needed] It relieved Visa of paying the $5 million bonus to the owner of a horse that would win the Triple Crown. Triple Crown Productions has sponsored the races since 2006.[citation needed] The $5 million bonus remains intact.[1]

Many believe Visa withdrew its sponsorship as a result of the New York Racing Association's decision to break with the other two tracks on a television contract. On October 4, 2004, NYRA announced that the American Broadcasting Company and ESPN would hold television rights to the Belmont Stakes, breaking from Triple Crown Productions' deal with NBC Sports.[citation needed] NBC Sports holds the broadcasting rights to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes until 2010. Triple Crown Productions was formed in 1986 with ABC. Prior to that, the individual racing associations made their own deals with the television networks (ABC and CBS).

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