The Triple Crown drought has inspired lust and yearning among trainers and fans alike. The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont have been the pinnacle of Thoroughbred racing since the first crown was given (many years later) to Sir Barton back in 1919. The other ten winners are legends among racing fans, and since Affirmed and Alydar battled it out in 1978, no horse has been able to meet the challenge of the races, which are incredibly difficult for a young horse to meet.

The Kentucky Derby, run on the first Saturday in May, is contested at a mile and a quarter at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is restricted for three year old horses only, any gender (though only three fillies have won the race, and no filly has ever won the Triple Crown). Once a horse has won the blanket of roses, the reward for winning the Derby, it is on to Pimlico, Maryland, where the Black-Eyed Susans are the reward for winning the 2nd jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness.

The Preakness is named for a horse- the only race of the Triple Crown which is named for the animal that runs in the races. Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes, run at Pimlico, and eventually renamed in his honor. It is a shorter race, contested at a mile and 3/16ths, and is run on the 3rd Saturday in May. At Pimlico, the Preakness winner is rewarded with the Woodlawn Vase, the most expensive trophy in sports. (Well, the winner doesn't *actually* get the Vase- they get a smaller replica, but they do get to touch the actual Woodlawn Vase, which is very nifty.)

If the Derby winner is fortunate enough to win the Preakness (which many have) they must then go on to the "test of Champions-" the Belmont Stakes, named for August Belmont, and contested at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. This race is contested at a mile and a half- a distance most of these horses will never run again. It is, I believe, the only dirt race run at a mile and a half in the United States today. The reward for winning the Belmont Stakes is a blanket of carnations and a trophy made by the Tiffany Company. Fourteen horses have won the Derby and Preakness since Affirmed, only to fail in the Belmont.

I began watching horse racing in 1986, and in 1989, when Sunday Silence was contesting the Preakness against Easy Goer, I thought I would never see another race like it. (I still haven't.) That race stands out as one of the races that will go down in history as the "best of the best." But Sunday Silence broke my heart by losing his Triple Crown bid to Easy Goer, who swept past him to win the Belmont going away.

In 1999, I watched in horror as Chris Antley pulled up Charismatic, the gorgeous chestnut winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, who had broken down in his quest to win the Triple Crown- shattering his foreleg and many fans's hearts (mine included) as he lost to Lemon Drop Kid in the Belmont.

But no Triple Crown bid was more heartbreaking than Real Quiet's.

His Derby was determined. His Preakness validating. And his Belmont utterly heartbreaking. When Victory Gallop, who had chased after him time and again only to lose, denied him his Triple Crown glory by only a NOSE...

...it was the stuff of a Greek Tragedy.

Will we be fortunate enough to see a Triple Crown this year? We have to wait and see. We have a Derby winner we can pin our hopes on, and a trainer who says he has learned his lessons from previous failuers.

Here's hoping that the racing gods decide to bless him with a little luck, too.

Learn more about this author, Kara Cox.
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