No Horsing Around For These Triple Crown Winners

Written By Marian Rosin on June 8, 2022 - Last Updated on May 22, 2023
Kentucky horse racing sees upcoming Belmont Stakes

This year’s Triple Crown crosses the finish with the Belmont Stakes happening this Saturday, Jun. 11.

We already know there won’t be an entrant joining the ranks of Triple Crown winners this year as the team behind long-shot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike decided not to race him in the Preakness.

Don’t forget you can get in on the Belmont action this weekend using the online betting platform TVG. It’s your only option until KY sports betting becomes legal in the future.

13 horses have pulled off the feat of their flying feet beating out everyone else in the yearly triple header for horses. Let’s take a look at a few memorable Triple Crown winners.

No 1. Sir Barton, 1919

Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. George Washington, the first president. Al Jolson was the first actor in talkies. And Sir Barton, first of the US Triple Crown winners.

Born in Kentucky, Sir B was the equine Joan Crawford of his day, known for his ill-temper but still at the top. They said the only person he didn’t hate was his groom. (Of course. As we all know, you don’t piss off your hairdresser if you don’t want a buzz cut instead of a classic bob.)

Think you’ve had roommate problems? In 1918, a stablemate kicked Sir Barton, wounding a hind leg, which led to blood poisoning. Still, he came back and won the Triple Crown – retroactively, though, when the Thoroughbred Racing Associations formally declared the title around 1950.

Unlike future Triple Crown winners who enjoyed filly-filled retirements for big stud bucks, this Hall of Famer’s inglorious later years saw him a working horse at the US Army Remount Station in Nebraska. His stud fees brought in $10 at most.

No 2. War Admiral, 1937

A great horse, the offspring of champion Man o’ War went down in racing history for bagging the Triple Crown but also for losing to underdog Sea Biscuit in 1938’s legendary “Match Race of the Century.”

In a tale similar to those of other champion horses to come, War Admiral was underestimated and dismissed despite his lineage as a young horse. Owner Sam Riddle tried to give him away, unsuccessfully, which ultimately worked out very well for the reluctant owner.

War Admiral finished first in 21 of his 26 career starts. In his racing career, War Admiral won what would be in today’s dollars over $5 million. And that was before his stud fees came into play. Eight years after the Triple Crown, he was the leading sire in North America. (Hello, Nick Cannon!)

But did “Match Race of the Century” rival Seabiscuit have the last whinny? Well, while Seabiscuit never won the Triple Crown, only one of them got the eponymous Hollywood Treatment.

No 3. Whirlaway, 1941

This thoroughbred son of Blenheim and Sweep ties 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault for the longest winning margin in the Kentucky Derby, a margin of eight lengths. He was appreciatively called “Mister Longtail” by the fillies — okay, by humans—because his long, thick tail would blow dramatically behind him during races. He was the Fabio of horses.

Whirlaway’s trainer called him “a creature of habit. You had to create habits for him. So we created the habits we wanted him to do.” Whirlaway was known for having a “quirky” personality, too. Adoration for this horse, who sometimes suffered from nerves, gave people some needed distraction during World War II.

Legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro rode the quirky pony to Triple Crown history.

No 4. Secretariat, 1973

That’s his official name, but he’s also called “America’s Super Horse” and “Big Red.” (Not because of his political affiliation, horses don’t have them, thankfully. No red hat saying “Make America Graze Again.”) Secretariat holds his place as one of the greatest champions of all time. He even got the Hollywood treatment: an equine biopic.

The humans who knew Secretariat early in his life called him a clown, “always into some devilment.”

As a three-year-old thoroughbred, Secretariat set speed records in all three Triple Crown races. One Australian trainer said of him, “He is incredible, an absolutely perfect horse. I never saw anything like him.” Seth Hancock, the owner of Claiborne Farms, praised the horse’s physical attributes and more, calling Big Red kind, intelligent, and “the best-lookin’ guy ever to come down the pike.”

Their words echo what many people think about Ryan Gosling, too.

No 5. Seattle Slew, 1977

Seattle Slew headed into the Triple Crown undefeated in any previous races. He even set off a condition known as “Slewmania.”

In true underdog-to-champion style, people dismissed the horse in his early life, saying he looked like a mule. Then came horse puberty. Eventual owners Karen and Mickey Taylor and Jim Hill paid $17,500 for him. (That would be in the neighborhood of $100,000 today.)

Always one to overcome a start that would daunt others, at the 1977 Kentucky Derby, Slew “broke badly” (but not in the Walter White/cooking meth sense). Then he “ran the hardest race of his life,” said his trainer, Billy Turner. According to brisnet.com, it’s still one of the greatest runs in Derby history.

Slew lived out his life — happily, we assume — as a stud, siring among others a son who almost made it to Triple Crown-dom himself. That progeny, named Swale, won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Oh, the pressures of having to live in the shadow of your famous dad! Just ask Chet Hanks.

Triple Crown for performers: actors with big EGOTs

Winning the Triple Crown could be considered a horse’s equivalent to an actor’s EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) win. Human winners of those top showbiz awards include:

  • John Legend
  • Audrey Hepburn
  • Rita Moreno
  • Whoopi Goldberg
  • John Gielgud

Could any of them win a Triple Crown against a crowd of thoroughbreds? We doubt it (although maybe Meryl Streep could pull it off — she seems to be able to do anything). On the other hand or hoof, some horses have shown they can act in movies.

Complete list of Triple Crown winners:

  • 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
  • Affirmed, 1978
  • American Pharoah, 2015
  • Justify, 2018

Fun fact: Virtual Triple Crown Showdown

In 2020, NBC hosted a “Virtual Triple Crown Showdown“ as a Covid relief fund-raiser in place of the postponed Kentucky Derby. This was the virtual final finish:

  1. Secretariat
  2. Citation
  3. Seattle Slew
  4. Affirmed
  5. American Pharoah
  6. Whirlaway
  7. Count Fleet
  8. Justify
  9. Assault
  10. War Admiral
  11. Omaha
  12. Gallant Fox
  13. Sir Barton
Photo by Mark Lennihan/Associated Press
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Marian Rosin

Marian Rosin is a freelance writer that has written on a variety of topics including publications like Upnest and Psychology Today. Marian brings experience in the gambling sector as the senior copywriter for Isle of Capri casinos.

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