Failed Triple Crown Attempts
 

2004 Smarty Jones (finished 2nd) by Birdstone (prior race 8th in KY Derby)
2003 Funny Cide (3rd) by Empire MAker (KY Derby 2nd)
2002 War Emblem (8th) by Sarava (won Sir Barton)
1999 Charismatic (3rd) by Lemon Drop Kid (Peter Pan 3rd)
1998 Real Quiet (2nd) by Victory Gallop (Preakness 2nd)
1997 Silver Charm (2nd at 1.05-1) by Touch Gold (4th Preakness)
1989 Sunday Silence (2nd) by Easy Goer (KY Derby 2nd)
1987 Alysheba (4th at .80-1) by Bet Twice (2nd Preakness)
1981-Pleasant Colony (3rd at .80-1) by Summing (won PA Derby)
1979 Spectacular Bid (3rd at .30-1) by Coastal (won Peter Pan)
1971 Caninero II (4th at .70-1) by PAss Catcher (Jersey Derby 2nd)
1969 Majestic Prince (2nd at 1.30-1) by Arts and Letters (Preakness 2nd)
1968 Forward Pass (2nd at 1.0-1) by Stage Door Johnny (won Peter Pan)
1966 Kauai King (4th at .60-1) by Amberoid (Preakness 3rd)
1964 Northern Dancer (3rd at .80-1) by Quadrangle (Preakness 4th)
1961 Carry Back (7th at .45-1) by Sherluck (Preakness 5th)
1958 Tim Tam (2nd at .15-1)by Cavan (won Peter Pan)
1944 Pensive (2nd) by Bounding Home (Peter Pan 2nd)

11 up.
18 down.

8 2nds
5 3rds
3 4ths
1 7th
1 8th
(18)

You can sure make a case for betting against Brown on top.

save the fact that just about any of the horses in this list ,would trounce the rest o of this field for fun on 08

War Emblem beaten by Sarava.
Bid beat by Coastal.

Stuff happens.

FTFY

Will Jesus Himself weep when your horse loses the Belmont?

true..but war and sarava would beat all these in o8.save bb imo:tro:

.......no chance, jesus WILL have the winner.

I'm not sure I could have found Sarava that year if he was standing right in front of me even using both hands and a flashlight.

he didnt wink at you..

As Nick Zito said he ran eigth not eigthteenth. Throw iin the fact that he threw a shoe in the derby and his race before the belmont wasn't horrific.

I bet Jesus is a show bettor.

Tim Tam broke down, never raced again.
Northern Dancer didn't stay 12f.
Kauai King wasn't all that good, won the other races because Buckpasser was on the sidelines. (Aside from 'Passer, this wasn't a stellar crop; some decent hard-knocking sorts, but no Sham or Alydar.)
Forward Pass didn't finish first in the Derby, beaten by a superior stayer, a later-developing and better horse.
Majestic Prince's trainer was reluctant to run him, and he never ran again.
Alysheba couldn't run with Bute in NY in those days
Easy Goer was a different horse on the more expansive NY tracks; didn't corner as well as Sunday Silence on the mile ovals.

In the more recent ones, we all have our opinions. Silver Charm didn't see Touch Gold, Smarty got mobbed, whatever.

Right, it was Lasix, not bute, that Alysheba couldn't use in NY that was considered the issue. It was quite an issue, and Steve Crist wrote pretty extensively about the Alysheba/Lasix issue....and subsequently Alysheba raced without it, I believe, during his incredible 4YO season.

Touch Gold was much the best in the Preakness and was the deserving winner of the Belmont. He won that race after virtually tearing his foot off in the Preakness when he stepped on himself after stumbling badly at the start.

It's funny, Real Quiet and Charismatic are the only ones in recent years that legitimately could have won the Triple Crown ( of the ones going for it in the Belmont ). Both got questionable rides and ran easily well enough to have won. Funny Cide was way overmatched. War Emblem, though he was eliminated at the start, was never winning at 1 1/2 miles expecially as that race set up. Smarty Jones was just a great racing moment of reality intervening.

Not arguing, but can you elaborate?

I don't recall that article, but I just felt they ran the best race of anyone in the Belmont, but running the best race is clearly not always good enough and it is one of the reasons winning the TC, or three races in a row, is very hard. Look, obviously Point Given, and even Afleet Alex, were the best of those groups, but for whatever reasons they lost one of the three. Hell, Little Current was clearly the best of his group but failed to win the Derby as well. Risen Star too. To me, he is one that really should have won the Triple Crown.

Let's not turn this into, yet another, dopey Smarty Jones thread. God knows there are enough of them.

Fine.

Casino Drive's gonna win.

He might.

I feel that Point Given was the biggest triple crown blunder of recent memory. He was a SUPER horse.

updated...

2008 Big Brown (9th at .30-1) by Da'Tara (2nd Barbaro Stakes)
2004 Smarty Jones (finished 2nd) by Birdstone (prior race 8th in KY Derby)
2003 Funny Cide (3rd) by Empire MAker (KY Derby 2nd)
2002 War Emblem (8th) by Sarava (won Sir Barton)
1999 Charismatic (3rd) by Lemon Drop Kid (Peter Pan 3rd)
1998 Real Quiet (2nd) by Victory Gallop (Preakness 2nd)
1997 Silver Charm (2nd at 1.05-1) by Touch Gold (4th Preakness)
1989 Sunday Silence (2nd) by Easy Goer (KY Derby 2nd)
1987 Alysheba (4th at .80-1) by Bet Twice (2nd Preakness)
1981-Pleasant Colony (3rd at .80-1) by Summing (won PA Derby)
1979 Spectacular Bid (3rd at .30-1) by Coastal (won Peter Pan)
1971 Caninero II (4th at .70-1) by PAss Catcher (Jersey Derby 2nd)
1969 Majestic Prince (2nd at 1.30-1) by Arts and Letters (Preakness 2nd)
1968 Forward Pass (2nd at 1.0-1) by Stage Door Johnny (won Peter Pan)
1966 Kauai King (4th at .60-1) by Amberoid (Preakness 3rd)
1964 Northern Dancer (3rd at .80-1) by Quadrangle (Preakness 4th)
1961 Carry Back (7th at .45-1) by Sherluck (Preakness 5th)
1958 Tim Tam (2nd at .15-1)by Cavan (won Peter Pan)
1944 Pensive (2nd) by Bounding Home (Peter Pan 2nd)

11 up.
19 down.

8 2nds
5 3rds
3 4ths
1 7th
1 8th
1 9th
(19)
----------------------

The Four Legged Chemistry Experiment, better known as Big Brown, makes history as the worst performance of a Derby-Preakness winner ever in the Belmont.

The Pharmacist, better known as Rick Dutrow, somehow manages to salve his wounds with wins by Benny The Bull and Mr. Umphrey.

The Human Whose Body is 95% Hair Gel, better known as Iavarone, has his 15 minutes of fame that somehow lasted 5 weeks come to an end.

Personally, I hope Three Chimneys and the owners do very poorly on BB's stud career. If enough of there early retirees are financial failures (and if Sheikh Mo somehow decides to turn his attention to accumulating art) maybe the things can swing back toward racing vs retiring early.

Had a very nice weekend in NYC. It's a great place. I also give thumbs up to the Triple Crown Diner, a good place to spend some time before the races. Belmont is a great track. It certainly holds the heat well. Thought I was holding a winning ticket with Denis of Cork when they straightened out.

My only regret was not getting a later flight out. Could have made it out to Monmouth yesterday for a few races.

I'm not going to claim to have seen it coming, but Birdstone made some sense in retrospect (don't they all). He had horrible luck in catching a sealed track at Turfway and a sloppy one at Churchill when he couldn't run on the mud.