OT Belmont Stakes: Triple Crown?

[johnnysd]

They just said ONLY SECRETARIAT ran a faster Belmont than American Pharoah did today.

Thats impressive.

And only by 2 seconds.

 

[Savage69]

Not quite Secretariat like but not to see AP win it running away

2.6 seconds behind Secretariat's time but still a great accomplishment for AP..

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

And only by 2 seconds.

Secretariat was a monster, no horse is ever beating his 2:24 Belmont, thats an insane mile-and-a-half time.

 

[NickSINYC]

2.6 seconds behind Secretariat's time but still a great accomplishment for AP..

Was a typo it was nice not not

 

[Savage69]

Secretariat was a monster, no horse is ever beating his 2:24 Belmont, thats an insane mile-and-a-half time.

In the stretch, Secretariat opened a 1/16 mile lead on the rest of the field. At the finish, he won by 31 lengths (breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943, who won by 25 lengths), and ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, which broke the stakes record by more than two seconds. This works out to a speed of 37.5 mph for his entire performance. Secretariat's record still stands; no other horse has ever broken 2:24 for 1½ miles on dirt.

 

[sg3]

Great win..

Next question

Who do all us Horse Racing aficionados like in the first race tomorrow at Belmont. Six furlongs, maidens running in front of a solid 980 spectators

A sport that was once the Sport of Kings brought to its knees by poor management and corrupt politicians taking out the major portion of the handle to finance their corruption

New York City runs racing 300 days a year, 299 dead as a door nail and one Saturday in June

Sad and criminal

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

Secretariat's record still stands; no other horse has ever broken 2:24 for 1½ miles on dirt.

I'm glad they finally adjusted the 73' Preakness time where the clock malfunctioned, so now Secretariat holds the "official" record in all three Triple Crown races, ran the fastest Derby, the fastest Preakness and the fastest Belmont Stakes in the history of all three races. He always held all three "unofficially", but I'm glad they made it official.

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

sg3,

AP ran the last 1/4 mile in just over 24 seconds, ridiculous, but thats the LATE SPEED I spent three weeks talking about.

Thats why I said if he gets a good ride and he has a lead in the stretch, nobody is catching him.

Frosted would have ran down all of the previous pretenders, but he wasn't running this horse down.

 

[Bigmoe]

Great win..

Next question

Who do all us Horse Racing aficionados like in the first race tomorrow at Belmont. Six furlongs, maidens running in front of a solid 980 spectators

A sport that was once the Sport of Kings brought to its knees by poor management and corrupt politicians taking out the major portion of the handle to finance their corruption

New York City runs racing 300 days a year, 299 dead as a door nail and one Saturday in June

Sad and criminal

Your 100% correct
Grew up spending summers at Monmouth Park Racetrack and trips to Saratoga
I remember my Dad telling me we had to get online early enough so we didn't get shutout
I also remember we had to park so far away there was a trolly you could take to the gate
He used to make the NY trips when I was too young
We then enjoyed going Friday nites at the Meadowlands later on.
It's really become a joke as to what it was ,
Oh, and the real Bigmoe really knew how to cap those Maidens

 

[sg3]

I have a good friend and fellow degenerate hprseplayer who goes ape shit over the 3 triple crown races and maybe the breeders cup day.

He can't understand that the game is not about beautiful animals, owners and trainers and "big races", it's about gambling, handicapping, prices and cashing a nice ticket and you can have just as good or actually a much better shot at doing so in a 12500 claimers race or a maiden special weight as in a so called "big race"

Same mostly brown animals and same little riders in funny colored shirts for both.

BTW NBC is so madly in love with the unimportant parts of racing...trainers and owners and all the hoopla and bullshit that they don't show the ONLY important thing in the game, THE PRICES for sometimes 20 minutes after a race is won

I gave up on them years ago and watch the races live on twinspires on my laptop

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

The three Triple Crown races in chronological order:

 

[johnnysd]

He's not Secretariat, but he is a very high quality Triple Crown winner. NBCs coverage was pretentious and boring. I do not gamble anymore but enjoy handicapping the horses a little around Triple Crown time.

 

[jetfrantik]

I said if he hits the stretch in the lead and he has anything left in the tank, nobody is catching him, too much late speed.

American Pharoah, welcome to the most exclusive club in sports and horse racing immortality, you succeeded where 13 previous Triple Crown contenders failed, now you can take your rightful place along side the all-time greats.

That was one heck of a prediction.

 

[SackExchange]

In this era, where a Triple Crown is so rare for all the reasons we have listed before, this is impressive beyond belief. AP didn't impress me much in the Derby, impressed me greatly in the Preakness, and ABSOLUTELY earned the accolades, stud money, and legacy he will get after yesterday.

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

In this era, where a Triple Crown is so rare for all the reasons we have listed before, this is impressive beyond belief. AP didn't impress me much in the Derby, impressed me greatly in the Preakness, and ABSOLUTELY earned the accolades, stud money, and legacy he will get after yesterday.

Everybody was looking at the previous 13 losers, but this is the trend they should have been looking at (SEE # 5), of the previous 17 TC hopefuls, only four were two year old champions (Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid), and three of those went on to win the Triple Crown. So when a two year old champ carries his dominance into his three year old campaign and wins the first two legs of the TC, they have a 75% winning percentage in the Belmont Stakes, and if you read what I posted below, it should have been 4 for 4 (100%). Anyway, now its four of the last five.

PREDICTION TIME

Okay, here's my prediction:

American Pharoah will have the lead in the stretch, and not a small lead, at least three lengths, and no three year old can catch this horse in the stretch if he has that kind of lead, he has too much late speed ... BUT, that only applies if he's at his best ... if not, if the three races in five weeks and the mile-and-a-half Belmont finally catches up to him, then he won't have his normal late kick and he'll get caught, somebody will run past him at the wire.

THAT SAID, I'm predicting he has enough left in the tank to hold the lead and cross the wire first, and we'll have the first Triple Crown winner in 37 Years, and here's why I believe he will succeed where thirteen previous horses have failed after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown:

1. His grandfather, Empire Maker, won the Belmont Stakes and in doing so prevented Funny Cide who ran second from winning the Triple Crown, and distance stamina tends to skip a generation, so there's a good chance this horse inherited the distance from his grandpa.

2. This horse, unlike many of the previous contenders, had a fairly light racing schedule heading to the Kentucky Derby, so there's a chance he has more left in the tank than the usual Triple Crown contenders.

3. LATE SPEED, when he's right his late speed is breathtaking, and too me thats the most important quality in a stakes race, particularly one of this magnitude. In this race its second only to stamina, and that remains to be seen for all of these horses, none of them have ever run a mile-and-a-half and they'll never run this distance again after this race, but that aside, I love AP's late speed.

4. By all accounts AP came out of the Preakness in good shape, has maintained his weight, and according to Jerry Bailey, he's looked "awesome" in training.

5. Most important of all, three of the last four two year old champions that won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, finished the job and won the Belmont Stakes.

Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed were all two year old champions. The only two year old champion of the thirteen horses that have since won the first two legs and lost the Belmont was Spectacular Bid in 1979, and every racing person knows THE BID would have won it if he was not injured before the race (safety pin stuck in his hoof) and if the rider, Ronnie Franklin, had not given him the worst ride perhaps in the entire history of the Belmont Stakes. All of the other twelve since Affirmed were NOT two year old champions.

THAT LAST ONE IS HUGE, and IMO thats why AP wins this race, he's just a better horse than the previous thirteen who won the first two legs and failed in the Belmont, with the possible exception of Spectacular Bid, but normally when two year old champions carry their dominance into their three year old campaigns, and win the first two legs of the Triple Crown, THEY CLOSE THE DEAL in the Belmont Stakes.

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

That was one heck of a prediction.

Thank You, frantik

 

[SackExchange]

You pretty well nailed it. I don't follow the ponies that well, so I am very impressed with that analysis.

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

You pretty well nailed it. I don't follow the ponies that well, so I am very impressed with that analysis.

Thanks Sack, but in truth I've been wrong in the past, AP is not the first horse since Affirmed who I thought would win it, but the others were more with my heart than my head, this was the first time I saw some very sound horse racing reasons, beyond just being impressed with his performances in the Derby and Preakness, to think AP will win the Triple Crown.

When I came across that "two year old champions" statistic, thats when I was really sold. The winning percentage in the Belmont for horses that win the first two legs is obviously low, extremely low, witness the last thirteen in a row that came to the Belmont with a chance to win the TC and failed, BUT the winning percentage in this race for two year old champions who carry their dominance into their three year old campaigns and win the first two legs of the TC is incredibly high. Its the complete opposite of the percentage for everybody else. Now its four of the last five.

There's obviously something to be said for horses that DOMINATE their age groups two years in a row as opposed to one.

The horses who dominate as two year olds, then dominate again as three year olds, those are the real TC Super Horses.

 

[SackExchange]

I really thought the way horses run these days, the tendency to sit out the Preakness, and the tight schedule of the TC races made it an almost impossible feat, like seeing someone hit .400.

 

[cysporsche]

Loved it after the finish line, the jockey was miked up and said Holy $hit we did it ! Bob Costas apologized later on the air !

Go Jets...Cyborg