The early nomination period for the three races in the
Triple Crown has concluded with
369
three-year-old Thoroughbreds based in
the United States and abroad eligible to bid for a rare sweep of the series of
classic races that includes the $2 million Kentucky Derby, $1 million Preakness and $1 million
Belmont Stakes.
The roster of nominees
is headed by Shanghai Bobby, the champion two-year-old
male of 2012 and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Trained by Todd Pletcher,
who has won a pair of Triple Crown races and leads all trainers with 29 nominees
to the 2013 series, Shanghai Bobby suffered his first career setback when
running second in his 2013 debut, the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.
Pletcher, whose Triple Crown wins include the 2010 Kentucky Derby with Super
Saver and the 2007 Belmont Stakes with the filly Rags to Riches, has a
powerhouse team of nominees for the spring classics that also includes Violence, winner of the
Grade 1 CashCall
Futurity at Hollywood Park and Belmont Park’s Grade 3 Nashua; Overanalyze, hero of the
Grade 2 Remsen and Grade 2 Futurity; Dreaming of Julia, victress of the Grade 1 Frizette
who suffered her first loss in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; and potential
stars Grade 2-placed Delhomme, Revolutionary and Verrazano,
the latter two whom were impressive maiden winners in their last starts.
The 2013 Triple Crown series opens on May 4 with
the 139th running of the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in
Louisville, Kentucky. The 138th Preakness, the 1 3/16-mile second jewel, is set for
May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The 145th running of
the Belmont Stakes, its 1 1/2-mile final leg, is scheduled for June 8 at
Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York.
This year’s total of early nominees to the Triple Crown
races is down from the 398 horses made eligible during the early phase in 2012.
Twenty more horses were added to the 2012 roster during the Triple Crown’s late
nomination phase, which lifted the final total to 418.
The deadline for early nominations was January 26 and required
a fee of $600 for each nominated three-year-old. The late nomination period, which
requires the payment of a $6,000 fee with each nominee, is underway and will run
through March 23 at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Information is
available at TheTripleCrown.com.
Other accomplished 2013 Triple Crown nominees include Uncaptured, winner of the
Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club and Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs, and Itsmyluckyday, who
defeated Shanghai Bobby in the Holy Bull after winning the Gulfstream Park Derby
by 6 3/4 lengths in his previous outing.
He’s Had Enough, head runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile, is owned by Reddam Racing LLC and trained by Doug O’Neill, the team that
sent I’ll Have Another to victories in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Another O’Neill trainee, Goldencents, captured the Grade 3 Delta Downs Jackpot and
Grade 3 Sham and is owned by a partnership that includes W C Racing, Dave Kenney and RAP Racing, a
stable headed by University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino.
Bluegrass Hall’s Oxbow scored in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds for
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who is tied with training legend Sunny Jim
Fitzsimmons with a record 13 victories in Triple Crown events.
Hall of Fame conditioner
Bob Baffert, an eight-time winner of Triple Crown races, has a team of nominees
headed by Gary and Mary West’s Power Broker, winner of the Grade 1 FrontRunner at
Santa Anita, and potential stars that include War Academy and the West-owned
Flashback.
Bluegrass Hall LLC and the Wests each nominated seven
horses to the Triple Crown to lead in total nominations by owners, either alone
or in partnership. Darley Stable was next with six nominees. Charles Fipke, Alex
and John Lieblong, John Oxley, Kaleem Shah Inc., West Point Thoroughbreds and WinStar
Farm nominated five horses each.
Immediately behind Pletcher among trainers was Baffert, who
trains 23 early nominees to the Triple Crown races. Ken McPeek and Nick Zito are
next with 13 nominees, while Mark Casse and Lukas each nominated 11 sophomores.
The leading breeders of 2013 Triple Crown nominees, either
alone or in partnership, are Darley and Edward P. Evans, each of whom bred seven
of the Triple Crown-eligible horses. Close behind are Ken and Sarah Ramsey, and
William S. Farish with six nominees, while Diamond A. Racing Corporation and Fipke each
bred five nominees.
Nine nominated horses are based outside of North America,
including four that hail from the stable of Ireland’s Dermot Weld, who saddled
Go and Go to win the 1990 Belmont Stakes. Irish training king Aidan O’Brien
conditions a
pair of nominees.
Among the seven female nominees to the Triple Crown are Dreaming of Julia and
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies champion Beholder. The overall total of 369 Triple Crown nominees includes 325
colts. Along with the seven fillies, the remaining nominees include 28 geldings
and nine ridglings.
The United States was the birthplace of an overwhelming
majority of nominated horses with 352 bred in the states, and 263 of those — 71.3
percent of that group — born in Kentucky. Seventeen nominees were bred
outside of U.S. borders, with Canada accounting for 11.
The Kentucky Derby field has been limited to 20 starters
since 1975 and the horses that enter the starting gate for this year’s running
will be determined for the first time by points earned in the new “Road to the
Kentucky Derby” eligibility system. The field for the Preakness is limited to 14
starters, while the Belmont Stakes permits a maximum field of 16 horses.
A sweep of the three Triple Crown races — one of the most
difficult feats in all of sports — has been accomplished on only 11 occasions.
The roster of Triple Crown winners includes 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) and
Affirmed (1978).
It has been 34 years since the most recent Triple Crown
sweep by Affirmed in 1978, the longest stretch without a Triple Crown in the
history of the series. The previous record was the 25-year gap between the 1948
Triple Crown earned by Citation and Secretariat’s record-shattering three-race
sweep in 1973.
The 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins by I’ll Have
Another made the son of Flower Alley the 51st horse to take two of the three
Triple Crown races. However, the O’Neill-trained colt was denied his Triple
Crown bid when he was withdrawn from consideration for the Belmont Stakes due to injury in the days before that contest. Union Rags,
who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby, scored a narrow victory in the
Belmont Stakes to conclude the 2012 Triple Crown series.
Horses who are not nominated in either the early or late
nomination phases have a final opportunity to become eligible for Triple Crown
competition through a supplemental nomination. That process involves the payment
of a hefty fee, due at the time of entry for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or
Belmont Stakes, that makes the horse eligible to run in the remaining races of
the Triple Crown series. A supplemental nomination made at the time of entry for
the Kentucky Derby requires a fee of $200,000, and the fee drops $100,000 if
paid prior to either the Preakness or the Belmont Stakes.
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