America has not seen a Triple Crown winner since June 7, 1978. This 31 year drought is the longest in Triple Crown history, but there have been several notable horses that have come very close to winning it all.
In 1998, the horseracing world thought they were on the verge of seeing the next winner of the Triple Crown with Real Quiet. Unfortunately, he lost the Belmont by a nose. Real Quiet was trained by Bob Baffert and actually took seven races before getting his first win. After winning the Hollywood Futurity, Real Quiet improved dramatically. The colt was ridden by Kent Desormeaux in the Derby and won the Preakness by a good margin. Excitement and speculation was in the air for the Belmont, but Victory Gallop took it by a nose in the final stride. No horse has come closer to a Triple Crown win since. Real Quiet won the Ecliplse Award for his performances in 98, an award for the best three year old colt of the year.
In 2002, another horse had excitement and speculation in the air as well. His name was War Emblem. War Emblem was trained by Bob Baffert and gave the trainer his third Derby winner. The horse gave a valiant effort for the Triple Crown, but stumbled out of the gates at the Belmont, falling to his knees. The horse got up and briefly surged to the lead and actually led the entire race, but lost steam at the top of the stretch and finished last.
The next year, Funny Cide would be the Triple Crown contender. He was the first gelding to win the Kentucky Derby since 1929. Funny Cide beat out Empire Maker (ridden by Jerry Bailey) and Peace Rules (ridden by Edgar Prado) and took the Derby by 1 3/4 lengths over Empire Maker. Funny Cide finished with the 10th fastest time in the history of the Derby with 2:01.19. The Preakness in 2002 was a unique race in that the coordinator had to actually go out and find horses to compete, as it looked like only six or seven horses were going to run. In the end, Funny Cide took the Preakness by 9 3/4lengths. The day before the Belmont Stakes was a rainy one. A record crowd came to Belmont to watch the race, but the Funny Cide was pushed too close to the rail in the deep slop and it was just too hard to get out of. He finished third behind Empire Maker and Ten Most Wanted. Both horses were fresh from not running in the Preakness.
Although there have been many horses speculated to take the Triple Crown, many lose the Preakness. Only the coming weeks will tell us who will be the contender this year.
Simon Skinner has worked in the online gambling industry since 2000. He has worked for some of the top online sportsbooks and now runs internet marketing for BetAmerica - the top online US horse racing betting website.
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