JIM COLYER AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY

In all of horse racing, 3 races matter. They are the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. They make up racing's Triple Crown. Of all the thoroughbred horses, only 11 matter. They are the 11 who have won the Triple Crown. In order, these horses 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. There were 3 Triple Crown Winners in the 1930's, 4 in the 1940's and 3 in the 1970's. A horse is a horse. Even though I have their pictures on the site, you could put any name on any horse and I would not know the difference.

1919 Sir Barton - Sir Barton was the first Triple Crown winner. This was before the races were called the Triple Crown. It was recognized as a great feat. Sir Barton was upstaged by Man o' War. Man o' War beat Sir Barton by 7 lengths in a match race. Man o' War won the Preakness and the Belmont in 1920. He missed the Kentucky Derby because his owner, Samuel Riddle, thought Churchill Downs was too far west. Man o' War won 20 of 21 races. He was beaten by a horse called Upset by 1/2 length. He beat Upset 6 times. Man o' War was known as Big Red. He was a big horse with a voracious appetite. He was popular, the Babe Ruth of horses. He once went off at 1-100. He did well at stud. War Admiral was one of his progeny. Man o' War lived to be 30. He is the greatest thoroughbred of all time even if he did not win the Triple Crown.

1930 Gallant Fox - Gallant Fox was the second Triple Crown winner. He sired a Triple Crown winner, Omaha.

1935 Omaha - "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons trained Omaha. His horses won 2,275 races.

1937 War Admiral - War Admiral won 21 of 26 races. Like Sir Barton, he is remembered for losing a match race to a more popular horse. Seabiscuit beat him by 4 lengths. Samuel Riddle owned War Admiral. He ran him in the Kentucky Derby to avoid the mistake he made with Man o' War.

1941 Whirlaway - Whirlaway was owned by Calumet Farm and was the first of Calumet's 8 Kentucky Derby and 2 Triple Crown winners. Whirlaway was ridden by Eddie Arcaro. He became the third Triple Crown winner to lose a match race. He lost to Alsab by a nose.

1943 Count Fleet - Count Fleet won 16 of 21. The Belmont Stakes was his last race. An ankle injury ended his career.

1946 Assault - Assault stepped on a stake as a foal. His right fore hoof was malformed. He was called the Clubfooted Comet. He was sterile. He raced til he was 7.

1948 Citation - Citation was Calumet Farm's second Triple Crown winner. Eddie Acaro was his jockey. Citation won 32 of 45 races and became horse racing's first millionaire. He was one of the 3 greatest horses and the last Triple Crown winner for 25 years.

1973 Secretariat - Secretariat was a phenomenon, one of the 3 greatest with Man o' War and Citation. I was at Churchill Downs when he won the Kentucky Derby. I bet $75 on him to show. I was cautious because of the way horses had burned me. You can not trust them. Secretariat was owned by Penny Tweedy. Ron Turcott was the jockey. Secretariat set a record for the Derby. He ran the 1 1/4 miles in 1:59-2/5. That record stands. Secretariat is the only horse to run the Derby in under 2 minutes. It was in the Belmont Stakes that he attained immortality. He won by 31 lengths, destroying Sham. Secretariat set a record for the Belmont, running the 1 1/2 miles in 2:24. He was explosive. On a good day, he would have beaten Man o' War. Both ran 21 races. Man o' War won 20 to Secretariat's 16. Secretariat was a beautiful horse and the darling of Baby Boomers. That Onion beat him proved no horse is infallible. Ron Turcott later fell from a horse and was paralysed.

1977 Seattle Slew - By 1977, I was living in Tennessee where there is no horse racing. I was lucky. Still, I knew Seattle Slew was a strong horse. He went off 1-to-2 in the Derby. He was Horse of the Year in 1977. He raced as a 4-year-old and beat Affirmed twice. Seattle slew sired Swale, the 1984 Derby winner. A man I worked with saw the humor when Swale dropped dead of a heart attack.

1978 Affirmed - Affirmed can not be mentioned without Alydar. Theirs was the greatest rivalry in racing history. They met 10 times. Affirmed won 7. He was disqualified in their last meeting. Affirmed beat Alydar by 1-1/2 lengths in the Kentucky Derby and by a neck in the Preakness. In the Belmont, the rivals ran side by side through the stretch. At the wire, it was Affirmed by a head. I was at Churchill Downs when Affirmed won the Derby. I drove up from Tennessee. I knew nothing about the two horses. Someone told be to bet Alydar because of Calumet Farm. I lost $280 that day, hard earned money. It would be 15 years before I returned to the track and when I did, it was with my father and son. I let Michael bet $2 a race for 4 races to show him no one beats the horses. Affirmed went on to become the first $2 million winner. Alydar did better at stud and got the last laugh.

Michael and I went to the 2005 Kentucky Derby. We were in the infield. He did not care for the mob and wants to sit in the stands next time.

The 3-year-old classics:

The Kentucky Derby is run at Churchill Downs in Lousville, Kentucky, the first Saturday in May. It is the Run for the Roses. Churchill Downs opened in 1875. It was named after two brothers who owned the land. The Twin Spires became its symbol. Lists of Derby contenders appear each year in February.

The Preakness Stakes is run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The flowers are Black-Eyed Susans.

The Belmont Stakes is run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is located on Long Island. The flowers are white carnations.
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Thoroughbred horses descended from 3 Arab stallions brought to England over 300 years ago. Thoroughbreds can run 40 miles an hour.

Kentucky Derby 1 1/4 mile
Preakness 1 3/16 mile
Belmont 1 1/2 mile. Belmont Park has the only 1 1/2 mile dirt track in the world.
Contact: jim@jimcolyer.com
JIM COLYER