Was It Your First Triple Crown?

[GenuineRisk]

I was too little to remember the 1970s trio; the first TC I was aware of of Pleasant Colony, but I wasn't following racing until 1989 when I fell for Sunday Silence. Charismatic's was the first Belmont I attended in person.

We had a pretty financially tight spring and I waffled about buying a seat ahead of time (also, I hate Ticketmaster with the heat of a thousand fiery suns), but finally pulled the trigger in April for a cheapie seat in the upper tiers. Best $60 (well, almost $80, by the time Ticketmaster was done with me) I could of spent.

[Hoblin]

The first three races I ever saw on television were Seattle Slew's Triple Crown when I was nine years old. I'm pretty sure the reason I was rooting for him had something to do with his name. It was pretty cool for me 20 years later to see his silks on display in the museum at the Kentucky Horse Park. Hopefully, yesterday's race created some new future fans of the sport.

[LARHAGE]

I was 14 when Secretariat won his but I was a huge horse racing fan already so I appreciated what I was seeing, and knew I would never again see the race he ran in the Belmont, I loved Seattle Slew and enjoyed his and Affirmed was one of my all time favorites, I saw him break his maiden and loved the horse for his kindness and intelligence , Pharoah actually reminds me of him, I've liked American Pharoah from the beginning as well, liked his sire and especially his Grandsire who I named one of my show dogs after so this was a very satisfying win. I had recorded the whole days racing and was eating a late lunch at Outback when the race was ready to go off, I was surprised to see all the TV monitors on the race and as he was pulling away in the stretch the whole place was cheering and clapping, it was awesome to see a whole restaurant stop to enjoy a special occasion and celebrate the greatness of a horse, I had tears !!

[Danzig]

No
And hope its not the last

[clambeau]

I watched Carry Back so yeah, I'm old, but THIS NEVER GETS OLD

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Danzig

No
And hope its not the last

Well, there is an established pattern of them happening in clusters...

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Well, there is an established pattern of them happening in clusters...

I wonder if there is some sort of weird Roger Bannister effect, like once it's been done, it doesn't seem nearly as hard to do it again. Not saying the horse knows it, but if the trainer and rider know it's been done recently, then it's possible that makes it a little easier to do the next time out.

To me, one of the big positives of AP's TC is that we will stop hearing that it's impossible to win the TC these days. There will be fewer calls to shorten the Belmont or increase the spacing. AP won it with such authority, he made it look easy.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

To me, one of the big positives of AP's TC is that we will stop hearing that it's impossible to win the TC these days. There will be fewer calls to shorten the Belmont or increase the spacing. AP won it with such authority, he made it look easy.

So true! Every time someone starts talking about spacing the races out, or shortening them (I'm looking at you, DWL) I want to yell at them, "But it's SUPPOSED to hard! That's what makes it so special."

I figure AP's win gives us at least a five-year grace period before it starts up again.

[_ed_]

Definitely my first.

The first Derby I can remember watching is Silver Charm's. Quite a few TC near-misses since then, and now I've finally seen it happen.

It was amazing enough to watch it on TV - one of the greatest things I can ever remember seeing in horse racing. So I can't imagine what it would be like to have been there.