- Joined
- Dec 1, 2011
- Messages
- 33,000
- Reaction score
- 13,973
- Location
- FL - Daytona
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
The thread title says it all in today's 'Belmont Stakes'. Will California Chrome be the first in a long time? This horse was the mix of an unlikely pairing, creating one of the fastest thoroughbreds in decades. It shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhould be interesting?
California Chrome might capture horse racing’s first Triple Crown in 36 years.
California Chrome won the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes on May 17 in Pimlico, Maryland, with the third-fastest time in the past 16 years. That win came two weeks after the chestnut colt recorded the second-slowest winning time at the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby over the past decade, yet pulled away on the final turn and won by 1 3/4 lengths.
Since Seattle Slew and Affirmed won the most recent Triple Crowns back-to-back in 1977 and 1978, 12 horses have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before their bid for a sweep came up short at the Belmont. The favorite has failed to win the Belmont 16 of the past 18 years.
The June 7 Belmont Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown races at 1 1/2 miles, and winning times for the event in Elmont, New York, have crept upward in recent years as thoroughbred owners have put more focus on speed than stamina during breeding. It’s a distance the 3-year-old colts in the field have never run in a race and probably never will again.
California Chrome Reaches Belmont as Winning Times Get Slower - Bloomberg