With the invitation to "play where the turf meets the surf", the Del Mar horseracing season starts on July 18 with the Oceanside Stakes, opening day party and the "One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest"...
With the invitation to "play where the turf meets the surf", the Del Mar horseracing season starts on July 18 with the Oceanside Stakes, opening day party and the "One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest"...
The 2012 Royal Ascot got off to a great start on Tuesday, with Frankel crossing the finish line 11-lengths ahead of the rest of the contenders in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. Heralded as his career-best performance, the race marked his sixth straight one-mile win, confirming that he is back at the top of his game...
With 22 wins out of 22 starts in her racing career, Australian mare Black Caviar is widely considered to be the fastest horse in the world at this time – and she's heading to the Royal Ascot Race track in England to compete in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on June 23...
33 Years of Heartbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 – Part Six
2. Smarty Jones (2004)
Smarty Jones is generally the first horse that springs to most minds when it comes to recent near misses at the Belmont Stakes. Perhaps no horse since 1978 has captured the public's imagination as strongly as the little colt from Pennsylvania. Smarty’s road to the Kentucky Derby was a strange one.
33 Years of Heartbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 - Part Five of Six
4. Funny Cide (2003)
The first gelding to win the Kentucky Derby in 74 years and the only New York-bred horse to ever win, Funny Cide was given little chance to come out on top, but it was nothing personal - Kentucky's own Empire Maker was the overwhelming favorite to win at 6-5...
33 Years of Heartbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 - Part Four of Six
7. Sunday Silence (1989)
Unlike the previous two selections, Sunday Silence was not ignored by any means. Picked by the experts from the outset as one of the favorites in the Derby, the California-bred horse was nonetheless overshadowed by the media's favorite and East Coast darling Easy Goer, the U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old...
33 Years of Hearbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 - Part Three of Six
9. Alysheba (1987)
A virtually ignored horse before the Derby, Alysheba had a terrific pedigree, as the son of 1978's Alydar, but had only won one of his first nine races and was the bettors' sixth choice at 8-1. However, he reached his peak at the right time...
33 Years of Heartbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 - Part Two of Six
11. Afleet Alex (2005)
The only horse on this list that lost the Kentucky Derby and went on to win the Preakness and Belmont, Afleet Alex's chance to win the Triple Crown ended early on in the racing season, but his powerful efforts in the Preakness and Belmont ushered in countless thoughts of "what if" after the season ended.
33 Years of Heartbreak: The 12 Most Excruciating Near-Misses in the U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown Since 1978 - Part One of Six
In June of 1978, Florida-trained thoroughbred Affirmed held off a late charge by Alydar and won the Belmont Stakes, securing the 11th Triple Crown in U.S. horse racing history. As Affirmed was the third Triple Crown winner in a six-year stretch...
With an overall record of 9-4-5 in 16 starts, and career earnings of $2,586,175, Havre de Grace took Horse of the Year honors in 2011, becoming the third female to earn the honor. Fans were no doubt looking forward to seeing her thunder down the track next week in Churchill's Grade II La Troienne on the Kentucky Oaks card...