June 1, 1946: Assault Wins the Triple Crown

June 1, 1946, 80 years ago: We tend to think of horse racing as a sport with grace, rather than a contact sport full of violence. Yet, on this day, a horse named Assault won the Triple Crown.

Assault was foaled at King Ranch in south Texas, a son of 1936 Kentucky Derby and Preakness States winner Bold Venture. His maternal grandfather was Equipoise, the 1932 and 1933 Horse of the Year despite not winning any of the Triple Crown races. And he was a great-grandson of a sister of Man o' War, making him a cousin of both War Admiral and Seabiscuit.

Perhaps the true "assault" was the amount of injuries inflicted on him as a foal. He stepped on what was believed to have been a surveyor's stake, driving it through his front right hoof. The hoof was permanently deformed, and the colt developed a limp to accommodate the odd shape of his foot. However, the "Club-footed Comet," as he was later dubbed, showed no signs of abnormality when he was at a full gallop. Throughout his career, Assault also overcame kidney, splint bone, fetlock, knee and bleeding problems.

Trained by Max Hirsch, and ridden by Warren Mehrtens, he won only 2 races as a 2-year-old. One of them was a genuine rarity, a four-horse photo finish, in the perhaps aptly-named Flash Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Upstate New York.

As a 3-year-old, he won the Wood Memorial, one of the major prep races for the Kentucky Derby, at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York's Queens, but ran badly in the Derby Trial Stakes, and was not considered a favorite for the 1946 Kentucky Derby, run on May 4.

Yet he ran "the Run for the Roses" in 2 minutes, 6 and 3/5ths seconds, and tied what was then the race record by winning by 8 lengths. The Preakness was run a week later, on May 11. With a furlong (1/8th of a mile) to go, he led by 4 lengths, but he tired, and ended up winning by only a neck over Lord Boswell.

At a mile and a half, the longest major stakes race in America, the Belmont Stakes is known as "The True Test of Champions." Although it had happened only once to that point -- Pensive finished 2nd in 1944 -- no fewer than 19 horses have won the Derby and the Preakness, but come up short in the Belmont between then and 2014. (From 1932 to 2026, 3 other Triple Crown potentials did not run in the Belmont due to injury concerns.)

So it was thought by racing experts that Assault would not hold up in the long distance at Belmont Park, just outside New York City in Elmont, Long Island, and Lord Boswell was the betting favorite for the Stakes on June 1.

The experts were wrong: Almost the exact opposite of what they expected happened. Assault stumbled out of the gate, and trailed almost the whole way. But it was the other 6 horses in the race that got tired, and Assault made a run with 200 yards to go, and won by 3 lengths, in 2:30 and 4/5ths. Natchez finished 2nd, and Lord Boswell faded to 5th. Assault had won the Triple Crown.

Injuries and illness troubled Assault for the rest of the year. Hirsch replaced Mehrtens with Eddie Arcaro, and he rode Assault to victory in both the Pimlico Special back in Baltimore and the Westchester Stakes at Belmont. He won 5 out out his 7 races as a 4-year-old, and, unusual for a major thoroughbred, was raced until he was 7.

Assault failed at stud, and lived until 1971. Jockey Warren Mehrtens lived until 1997. 

October 31, 2015: Horse Racing's 1st "Grand Slam"

October 31, 2015, 10 years ago: American Pharoah wins the Breeders' Cup Classic, the highlight of the annual Breeders' Cup meet, held this year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.

On May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, at 3-1 odds, American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, in 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds, by 1 length over Firing Line. Two weeks later, on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, at 9-10 odds, he won the Preakness Stakes, in 1 minute, 58.46 seconds, by 7 lengths over Tale of Verve.

Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, there had been several near-misses, horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions." Spectacular Bid had failed in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm by 3/4 of a length in 1997, Real Quiet in a photo finish in 1998, Charismatic due to an in-race injury in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones by 1 length in 2004, Big Brown due to an in-race injury in 2008, I'll Have Another scratched from the Belmont due to an injury in 2012, and California Chrome due to an in-race injury in 2014. Racing fans were wondering if they would ever see another winner.

On June 6, American Pharoah was loaded into the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens, at odds of 3-4. There was no injury, no fade, and not even any drama: He won by 5 1/2 lengths over Frosted, in a time of 2 minutes, 26.65 seconds.

The idea for the Breeders' Cup was proposed at the 1982 awards luncheon for the Kentucky Derby Festival by pet food heir John R. Gaines, a leading Thoroughbred owner and breeder who wanted to clean up the sport's image.

The event was created as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and also attracts top horses from other parts of the world, especially Europe. The Cup was initially faced with much skepticism in the racing community, but with the vocal support of legendary trainer John Nerud and others, the event was carried out for the 1st time in 1984, and subsequently experienced tremendous popularity domestically and abroad.

The feature race is the Breeders' Cup Classic, a mile and a quarter like the Kentucky Derby. Usually, it is won by a horse that has won at least 1 of the Triple Crown races, although the 1st winner, Wild Again, didn't even enter any of those races, but held off 1983 Three-Year-Old Male Champion Slew o' Gold and 1984 Preakness winner Gate Dancer at Hollywood Park outside Los Angeles.

American Pharoah was the 1st Triple Crown winner to whom the Classic was available. On Halloween, October 31, 2015, at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky -- practically home soil -- he won by 5 1/2 lengths, in 2 minutes, 0.07 seconds, by 6 1/2 lengths over Effinex. Thus, he became the 1st winner of an American thoroughbred racing "Grand Slam." Through the 2025 Classic -- taking place tomorrow, but with no Triple Crown winner -- he remains the only one.

It was his last race. Unlike many 3-year-old champions, he did not have a money-making 4-year-old season, and was immediately retired to stud. As of October 31, 2025, American Pharoah stands at Ashford Stud farm in Kentucky. Most of his descendants who have gone on to race have done so outside the United States, winning races in Britain, Europe and Australia.

June 9, 1973: Secretariat Wins the Triple Crown

June 9, 1973, 50 years ago: The Belmont Stakes is held at Belmont Park, just over the New York City line in Elmont, Nassau County, New York. The big story: Secretariat is going for the Triple Crown.

Secretariat was born on March 30, 1970, at Meadow Stud in Caroline County, Virginia, the son of Something Royal and Bold Ruler, winner of the 1957 Preakness Stakes. (Being a son of Bold Ruler also made Secretariat an uncle of Kentucky Derby winners Dust Commander, Cannonade, Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes, Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid; and of Ruffian, the leading filly of the 1970s.) He was born with a "star" with a narrow stripe on his nose, and 3 of his 4 legs had "white socks."

Meadow Stud's owner, Penny Chenery, asked her secretary, Elizabeth Ham, for suggestions for a name. Mrs. Ham was an old lady who had worked at the Secretariat of the League of Nations -- the failed attempt at a peacekeeping organization after World War I, which led to the United Nations being founded after World War II, and it has its own Secretariat -- and she suggested "Secretariat." So that's what was chosen.

But Secretariat grew to be a big horse, with a gorgeous dark brown coat that looked red from a distance. So "Big Red" was an obvious nickname.

He made his 1st race on July 4, 1972 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York City, and finished 4th. But 11 days later, he ran at Aqueduct again, and won. After 2 races with Paul Feliciano aboard, he was given a new jockey, a 31-year-old French-Canadian named Ron Turcotte. He wore the colors of Meadow Stud: Blue and white checks on the body, blue and white stripes down the sleeves.

Secretariat ran 7 more races as a 2-year-old, winning all but 1, missing that 1 by just 2 lengths. He entered 1973 as the leading 3-year-old horse in the country, a favorite to win the "Triple Crown" races.

Those races are the Kentucky Derby, traditionally run on the 1st Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, a mile and one-quarter; the Preakness Stakes, usually run 2 Saturdays later at Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, a mile and three-sixteenths; and the Belmont Stakes, usually run on the 1st Saturday in June at Belmont Park, known due to its distance, a mile and a half, as "the true test of champions."

In 1919, Sir Barton became the 1st horse to win all 3 in a single year, and it became known as "the Triple Crown of American thoroughbred racing." For fillies, each of those tracks hosts a race the day before, known as the Triple Tiara: The Kentucky Oaks, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, and the Acorn Stakes.

Secretariat began his 3-year-old season at Aqueduct, winning the Bay Shore Stakes on March 17 and the Gotham Stakes on April 7, but only finished 3rd, 4 lengths back, at the Wood Memorial on April 21. Along with the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park outside Miami, and the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park outside Los Angeles, the Wood is considered one of the major warmups for the Triple Crown races. Each of the 3 is a mile and one-eighth, a little shorter than the Kentucky Derby, but slightly longer than the Preakness. And Secretariat hadn't won it.

So, on May 5, 1973, he went into the paddock at Churchill Downs, wearing Number 1A, as a joint entry with another Meadow Stud horse, Angle Light, as the favorite with odds of 3-2 (or one and a half to one). He won the race in 1 minute, 59 and 2/5ths seconds. Each quarter-mile was faster than the last: Secretariat was running faster at the end. Runner-up Sham was 2 1/2 lengths back.

It wasn't just a record: It was the 1st time the Kentucky Derby, the most famous American horse race, billing itself as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports," had been run in under 2 minutes since its mile-and-a-quarter length was set. It would take until 2001 before another horse ran the Derby in under 2 minutes, Monarchos. Secretariat's record still stands.

On May 19, Secretariat went into the Preakness as a 3-10 favorite, wearing Number 3. He won it in 1:53, a new record. Again, Sham was 2 1/2 lengths behind, and also broke the previous record.

Horse racing had been in a bit of a slump. It used to be that the 3 biggest sports in America were baseball, boxing, and horse racing, "the Sport of Kings." It helped that there had been 6 Triple Crown winners in 19 years between 1930 and 1948. But there hadn't been any since.

It took a while for the Triple Crown to become a big deal: Man o' War, considered the greatest racehorse of all time when he ran in 1920, only competed in one of them, the Belmont, winning it. (He ran 21 races, and won 20. The horse that beat him was named Upset, but the term "upset" for an unexpected win in sport was already in common use, so it wasn't named after the horse.)

The Triple Crown was won again by Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral in 1937, Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946, and Citation in 1948. Citation, in particular, had been so dominant, that when racing fans were asked to name the greatest thoroughbred of all time, he was the 1st one to seriously challenge Man o' War for the title.

From 1949 to 1972, there were 7 horses that won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont: Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Northern Dancer in 1964, Kauai King in 1966, Forward Pass in 1968, Majestic Prince in 1969, and Cañonero II in 1971.

It had been 25 years since Citation did it. Could it be done again? Secretariat was big, and he was fast, and he loved to run. But he had never run a mile and a half before. (Then again, most Derby and Preakness contenders, let alone winners, don't run that far until they get to the Belmont. And somebody has to win the mile-and-a-half race.) The story got huge, made bigger by the fact that Belmont Park is just outside New York City, so the New York media got involved.

The national media got involved: Secretariat's bid for the Triple Crown became a nice distraction from the growing national scandal of Watergate, and the unsatisfying end to the Vietnam War. But could he do it?

On June 9, 1973, wearing Number 2 -- an omen that he would finish 2nd, not 1st? -- Ron Turcotte mounted Secretariat, and guided him into the paddock at Belmont. There were only 5 horses in the field. The odds were 1-10: Secretariat was considered so likely to win the race, a 10-dollar bet would win you only 1 dollar.

A crowd of 69,138 packed into the stands. Millions more watched on CBS. The weather was warm, but not hot. The Sun was out. The track was fast. The gates were opened, and, as expected, Secretariat and Sham were the fastest, Secretariat on the inside. The 1st quarter-mile was run in 23 and 3/5th seconds; the 2nd, in 22 and 3/5ths. Together, they were 10 lengths ahead of the other horses.

In the 3rd quarter-mile, Sham began to lag, and would finish last. Secretariat, on the other hand, picked up speed. Charles "Chic" Anderson, describing the race for CBS, delivered the most famous commentary in the history of any race, be it man, animal or automobile:

They're on the turn, and Secretariat is blazing along! The first three-quarters of a mile are 1:09 and 4/5ths! Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine! Secretariat by 12! Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn!

Secretariat broke the Belmont Stakes 1st-mile record set by his father, Bold Ruler, in 1957: 1 minute, 34 and 1/5th second. Except Bold Ruler conked out and finished 3rd. Secretariat did not: Anderson yelled, "Secretariat is all alone! He's out there, almost a sixteenth of a mile away from the other horses!"

Looking at the footage now, from a 21st Century perspective, following some racing tragedies, including that of Barbaro in the 2004 Preakness, it's easy to think, "Don't break down. You're doing this magnificent thing, don't ruin it by breaking down. Please, God, don't let him break down."

Secretariat did not break down. He kept going and going. When he crossed the finish line, Anderson said he'd won by 25 lengths. That would have matched the record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943. In fact, it was 31 lengths. The time was 2 minutes, 24 seconds even. That's an average speed of 37.5 miles per hour. The greatest race any horse has ever run.

The performance was so spectacular, the fact that he'd just won the 1st Triple Crown in a quarter of a century became secondary. It's like asking someone who remembers the 1956 World Series, "Who won it?" and being told about Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5, before being told the Yankees won it in 7.

Did I say, "perfect"? That night, Jack Whitaker, part of CBS' broadcast team, received a phone call from Jack Nicklaus, preparing to defend his title at golf's U.S. Open the following weekend, at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh. (Johnny Miller ended up winning it.)

Nicklaus: "Jack, I gotta tell you, when I saw Secretariat running, I had tears in my eyes."

Whitaker: "That's because you've been pursuing perfection your whole life, and you finally saw it."

How can you follow up something like that? You couldn't. Not then: There would be no Breeders' Cup until 1984. Secretariat ran 6 more races, before retiring at the end of that season. He won 4 of them: The Arlington Invitational outside Chicago, the Marlboro Cup and the Man o' War Stakes back at Belmont, and the Canadian International at Woodbine in Toronto. His career record: 21 races, 1st in 16, 2nd in 3, 3rd in 1, 4th in 1. Earnings: $1,316,808 -- a little under $9 million in 2023 money.

The Triple Crown was subsequently won by Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. Another long drought with several near-misses (horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont) followed, until the Triple Crown was again won by American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

Unlike his father, Bold Ruler, Secretariat did not have many champion descendants. His grandson, A.P. Indy, won the Belmont Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 1992; Indy's son Rags to Riches won the Belmont in 2007; and Indy's great-grandson California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 2014.

Secretariat had been retired to stud at Claiborne Farm, outside Paris, Kentucky. He developed a hoof infection called laminitis, and did not respond to a month's worth of treatment. He was euthanized on October 4, 1989, at the age of 17. He was buried at Claiborne.

(Barring such infections, an average lifespan for a racehorse is between 25 and 28. Silver Charm, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 1997, is the oldest living winner of either of those races, at 29. The oldest living winner of any of the 3 is Editor's Note, 30, winner of the 1996 Belmont.)

In 2005, ESPN ranked the Top 20 greatest individual sports performances ever. Secretariat's Belmont win came in 2nd, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. ESPN also estimates that Secretariat has had more streets in the United States named after him than any other athlete: 263. (There are probably more streets named Ruth, including a Ruth Street in my hometown of East Brunswick, New Jersey, but most of those are not named for Babe Ruth.)

Statues of Secretariat now stand outside the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga, New York; the Kentucky Horse Park and Keeneland Race Course, both in Lexington, Kentucky; and, with Turcotte aboard, in Turcotte's hometown of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada.

Unfortunately, Turcotte himself had a grand fall: During a 1978 race at Belmont, he fell from his mount, and was paralyzed. As of June 9, 2023, he is 81 years old, still lives in Grand Falls, and is an advocate for disability research.

Turcotte at Secretariat's statue at the Kentucky Horse Park

In 1975, Sports Illustrated horse racing writer William Nack, who covered every race "Big Red" ever ran, published Secretariat: The Making of a Champion. In 2010, it served as the basis for the film Secretariat. Diane Lane starred as Penny Chenery, real-life jockey Otto Thorwarth played Turcotte, Kevin Connolly played Nack, and the horse that played Secretariat was not identified. 

How Long It's Been: A Horse Won the Triple Crown

American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes today, completing the Triple Crown of thoroughbred horse racing.

On May 2, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, he won the Kentucky Derby. I didn't watch it.

On May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, he won the Preakness Stakes. I was taking a beach day, and hadn't intended to watch it, but found myself inside Caesar's Atlantic City, and watched it.

Today, June 6, 2015 -- the 71st Anniversary of D-Day -- he won the Belmont, known for its mile-and-a-half length, and for 37 years of horses being unable to complete the Triple Crown, as "the true test of champions." This time, I watched.

I saw him leading halfway through, at the three-quarter-mile mark. I got a bad feeling, because leading the whole way is a bad sign, especially at the Belmont.

When the horses rounded the final turn, and entered the last straightaway, he was keeping the three-quarters-of-a-length lead he'd held most of the way, and I was thinking of how Smarty Jones was leading at that point in the 2004 Belmont, and blew it, and I said, "Don't blow it, don't blow it, don't blow it... " As if the horse could hear me through the TV, and over the yelling of the fans -- and could understand English.

When he began to increase that lead, making it all but impossible for him to be caught, I began thinking of Barbaro, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2006, but was injured in the Preakness Stakes, and, despite prolonged medical efforts, had to be put to sleep. So I said to the TV, "Don't break down, don't break down, don't break down... "

He didn't. He won the race in 2 minutes, 25.65 seconds. I pumped my fist and yelled, "Yes!" as he crossed the finish line, well in front, and with no sign of injury.

He is trained by Bob Baffert, and was ridden in all 3 races by Victor Espinoza, a 43-year-old Mexican jockey who thus won his 1st Belmont, and had won the Derby and the Preakness twice each before American Pharoah made it 3 each. It's important to remember that not only had no horse done it in a long time, but neither had any jockey, nor any trainer.

American Pharoah is the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. Here they are, as follows:

1. 1919: Sir Barton, ridden by Johnny Loftus, trained by Guy Bedwell.

2. 1930: Gallant Fox, ridden by Earl Sande, trained by "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons.

3. 1935: Omaha, son of Gallant Fox, ridden by Willie "Smokey" Saunders, trained by Fitzsimmons, the only man to train 2. Both Gallant Fox and Omaha, the only father-son combo to do it, were owned by, born, raised and trained at Belair Stud.

4. 1937: War Admiral, ridden by Charley Kurstinger, trained by George H. Conway. A year later, WAar Admiral famously lost a match race to Seabiscuit, who did not compete in any of the Triple Crown races at age 3 in 1936, because he was then so lightly regarded, and didn't blossom until age 4, much like 1950s horse Kelso and 1980s horse John Henry.

War Admiral was the son of Man o' War, who ran in 1919 and 1920, and famously lost only 1 of the 21 races he ran, to a horse whose name has, ever since, been applied to any event where the expected winner did not win: Upset. But since the Triple Crown wasn't yet a big thing, even in the wake of Sir Barton, the drive to win all 3 wasn't there. Man o' War did win the 1920 Belmont, but did not run in the other 2. In 1922, Pillory won the Preakness and the Belmont, but couldn't run in the Derby, as it was held on the same day of the Preakness.

5. 1941: Whirlaway, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, trained by Ben A. Jones.

6. 1943: Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, trained by Don Cameron.

7. 1946: Assault, ridden by Warren Mehrtens, trained by Max Hirsch.

8. 1948:  Citation, ridden by Arcaro, the only man to ride 2, trained by Jimmy Jones. Citation was a product of Calumet Farm, as was Whirlaway, making Calumet and Belair the only 2 "homes" of 2 Triple Crown winners. Then there was a 25-year drouht, until...

9. 1973: Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, trained by Lucien Laurin. Secretariat not only won all 3, but set records in all 3. His records for the Derby and the Belmont still stand. He famously won the Belmont by a whopping 31 lengths. I'm waiting for Kanye West to say, "Yo, American Pharoah, I'm-a let you finish, but Secretariat ran the greatest Belmont ever!"

10. 1977: Seattle Slew, ridden by Jean Cruget, trained by William H. Turner Jr. I was only 3 years old when Secretariat ran, so Seattle Slew was the first Triple Crown winner I can remember.

11. 1978: Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, trained by Laz Barrera. Later in the year, in the only races ever to match 2 Triple Crown winners, Seattle Slew beat Affirmed, and all other horses in the races, twice. In 1980, Affirmed's sister, Genuine Risk, became the 1st filly to win the Derby in 75 years. After Affirmed, there was a drought of 37 years, until...

12. 2015: American Pharoah, ridden by Victor Espinoza, trained by Bob Baffert. At 43, Espinoza is the oldest jockey to achieve the feat. The horses have all been 3 years old.

23 horses have won the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont, 13 of them between Affirmed and American Pharoah:

* In 1979, Spectacular Bid allegedly stepped on a safety pin on the morning of the Belmont, and finished 3rd.
* In 1981, Pleasant Colony finished a close 3rd.
* In 1987, Alysheba finished 4th.
* In 1989, Sunday Silence finished a distant 2nd to his much-hyped rival, Easy Goer.
* In 1997, Silver Charm finished just 3/4 of a length behind Touch Gold, the closest any horse had yet come to winning it without doing so.
* In 1998, Real Quiet came even closer, a photo finish showing him coming in just a nose behind Victory Gallop.
* In 1999, Charismatic broke his leg late in the Belmont, losing to Lemon Drop Kid by a length and a half. Jockey Chris Antley, seeing something was wrong, chose to pull him up and, possibly, save the horse's life, rather than push him onward and have a Triple Crown winner euthanized right there on the track. Antley had a drug addiction that would kill him not long afterward, but he saved the life of a champion. After 3 straight near-misses, people began wondering if the Belmont was jinxed. Sports fans can be superstitious people, and horse racing fans are not only no exception, but more so than most.
* In 2002, War Emblem stumbled coming out of the gate, and finished 8th. Sarava won the race with the longest odds of any Belmont winner ever: 70-1.
* In 2003, Funny Cide finished 3rd.
* In 2004, Smarty Jones led most of the way, but ran out of gas, and lost to Birdstone by a length.
* In 2008, Big Brown was pulled up, finishing last, but his life was saved.
* In 2012, I'll Have Another was found to have a tendon injury the day before the race, and was scratched.
* In 2014, just last year, California Chrome was stepped on by another horse coming out of the gate, and ran the race with an injured heel, finishing 4th.

If there was a jinx, American Pharoah ended it today.

*

The last Triple Crown winner in thoroughbred racing was Affirmed, who beat Alydar (father of the aforementioned Alysheba) in all 3 races, by less each time. Affirmed died in 2001, and Seattle Slew a year later, so for 13 years there have been no living Triple Crown winners.

Affirmed completed his Triple Crown on June 3, 1978. That's 37 years and 3 days. How long has that been?

Horse racing was still a relatively healthy sport then. Interest had been jacked up by 3 Triple Crown winners in the past 6 seasons, plus the tragic 1975 match race at Belmont Park that left Ruffian, who won the fillies' version of the Triple Crown, injured and humanely put down, against Foolish Pleasure, who had won the Derby but finished 2nd in the other 2 races.

The thought of horse racing becoming a minor sport, and being in serious financial trouble, was then inconceivable. Today, many racetracks, including the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park here in New Jersey, have legalized casino-style gambling, as well as simulcasting from other tracks, allowing for extra betting. Pimlico, site of the Preakness, is in danger of having to close, meaning that the race would have to be moved.

(Major horse races usually don't get moved. A notable exception is one of the major harness races, the Hambletonian Stakes, which has been run since 1926, but has had multiple sites, until settling at the Meadowlands in 1981.)

The defending World Champions in the major sports were the Yankees in baseball, the Dallas Cowboys (ew) in the NFL, the Montreal Canadiens in hockey, and the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA. Four days after Affirmed completed his Triple Crown, the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) won their 1st NBA title. (While the Yankees, Cowboys and Canadiens have combined for 12 titles since, neither the Blazers nor the Bullets/Wizards have ever won again.) The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Leon Spinks, who had recently taken it from Muhammad Ali, but Ali would soon take it back.

Few of the great athletes of today had yet been born. Notable baseball players yet born who are still active today include LaTroy Hawkins (the current oldest, at 42), Bartolo Colon, Ichiro Suzuki and R.A. Dickey. From the NBA, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, all still active today, had been born. Hockey player Jaromir Jagr was 6 years old. Peyton Manning was 2, Tom Brady was 10 months old.

The managers and head coaches of the New York teams in question? Yankees, Billy Martin; Mets, Joe Torre -- yes, that Joe Torre; Giants, John McVay (not John McKay); Jets, Walt Michaels; Knicks, Willis Reed was in his one-season interruption of the long tenure of Red Holzman; Rangers, Jean-Guy Talbot; and Islanders, Al Arbour. The New Jersey Devils were still the original hockey version of the Colorado Rockies.

What were the current Tri-State Area managers and head coaches doing in June 1978? Tom Coughlin of the Giants was the offensive coordinator at Syracuse University; Lionel Hollins of the Nets was starring for the defending NBA Champion Trail Blazers; Terry Collins of the Mets was a shortstop in the minor-league system of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Alain Vigneault of the Rangers was in high school at a defenseman with the "major junior" hockey team the Hull Olympiques, outside Ottawa; Todd Bowles of the Jets was at Elizabeth High School in New Jersey; Joe Girardi of the Yankees and Jack Capuano of the Islanders were in junior high school; Derek Fisher of the Knicks was about to turn 4; and John Hynes of the Devils was 3. (Yes, I will be doing a piece on new Devils hire Hynes, hopefully within the next few days.)

The World Cup was about to be held in Argentina, and has since been held in Spain, Mexico, Italy, America, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa and Brazil. The Olympics have since been held in America 3 times, Canada and Russia twice each, Bosnia, Korea, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China and Britain.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. (There are now 27.) The idea that corporations were "people" and thus entitled to the rights and protections thereof, was ridiculous -- but so was the idea that two people of the same gender could get married and half the rights and protections of marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court has since changed both.

The President of the United States was Jimmy Carter. Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry Truman were all still alive.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were out of office, and preparing campaigns for the Presidency in 1980. Bill Clinton was Attorney General of the State of Arkansas, and running for Governor. George W. Bush was making his 1st run for public office, for Congress from his home district in Texas. Barack Obama was in high school.

The Governor of the State of New York was Hugh Carey. The Mayor of the City of New York was Ed Koch. Both were at Belmont that day. The Governor of New Jersey was Brendan Byrne. Andrew Cuomo was attending Fordham University, while Bill de Blasio and Chris Christie were in high school.

The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed -- but the Prime Minister was James Callaghan, and of Canada, Pierre Trudeau. England's Football League had just been won in an upset by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, and the FA Cup in an equally surprising result by Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town, over Arsenal.

Amnesty International was the current holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope, in the last few weeks of his reign and life, was Paul VI. The current Pope, Francis, was Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the provincial superior of the Society of Jesus (a.k.a. the Jesuits) in his native Argentina. There have since been 6 Presidents of the United States, 6 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 5 Popes.

Major novels of 1978, all of which became major motion pictures, included Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett, The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch, and a pair of eventual Robin Williams vehicles: The World According to Garp by John Irving and What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson. Stephen King published The Stand, and William Luther Pierce III, under the pen name Andrew Macdonald, published The Turner Diaries, imagining a white supremacist uprising that takes over the United States and exacts revenge against blacks and Jews.

Like most right-wing literature, it's not only abominable sociology, it's bad writing. (By a weird retroactive coincidence, Pierce was born on a September 11, and, already dying of cancer, praised the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.)

Stephen King was about to publish The Stand. George R.R. Martin was writing Sandkings. J.K. Rowling was about to turn 13. No one had yet heard of literary characters Arthur Dent, Jason Bourne, Hannibal Lecter, Kinsey Millhone, Celie Harris, Forrest Gump, Jack Ryan, Alex Cross, Bridget Jones, Harry Potter, Robert Langdon, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen. Comic book characters V, Deadpool and Rick Grimes had yet to debut.

Dallas and Fantasy Island all recently debuted on American TV. They didn't have much in common, although with Dr. David Banner, J.R. Ewing, and Mr. Roarke, I don't think you wanted to make any of them angry. Shows getting ready to premiere in the fall included the original version of Battlestar Galactica, Taxi, WKRP in Cincinnati, Diff'rent Strokes, The White Shadow, and Mork & Mindy, starring the aforementioned Robin Williams. The Carol Burnett Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Maude, Columbo, Baretta, and both The Six Million Dollar Man and its spinoff The Bionic Woman, had aired their last first-run episodes.

The panelists on the episode of Match Game that aired that week were Gary Burghoff, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Hope Lange (the star of the late 1960s sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, which also had Reilly as a regular), Richard Dawson and Patti Deutsch. Kris Houghton was about to marry Robert Kardashian, and (as far as I know), neither of them had ever met Bruce Jenner.

No one had yet heard of such TV icons as Sam Malone, Christine Cagney & Mary Beth Lacey, Zack Morris, Hayden Fox, Dale Cooper, the Seinfeld Four, Buffy Summers, Fox Mulder, Andy Sipowicz, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Doug Ross, Xena, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Ceslie Knope or Sarah Manning.

Nor had anyone yet heard of animation or video game legends such as Mario, He-Man, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Goku, the Thundercats, Bart Simpson, Ash Ketchum or Master Chief.

Christopher Reeve was about to debut in film as Superman, and CBS had Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, Nicholas Hammond as Spider-Man, Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, and Reb Brown as Captain America. But Adam West was still the most recent live-action Batman, with Olan Soule voicing him on Super Friends (which also had Danny Dark as Superman and Shannon Farnon as Wonder Woman). Roger Moore was playing James Bond, and Tom Baker The Doctor.

No one had yet heard of Mad Max, Jason Voorhees, Ash Williams, John Rambo, the Terminator, the Ghostbusters, Freddy Kreuger, Marty McFly, Robocop, John McClane, Jay & Silent Bob, or Austin Powers.

Gene Roddenberry, having heard that Paramount Pictures had shut down its idea for a 4th major TV network, had begun turning his previously accepted idea for an anchor series, Star Trek: Phase II, into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. George Lucas had begun working on Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Stephen Spielberg was filming John Belushi in the war-themed comedy 1941, and it would be one of the few flops that either would have.

Michael Jackson was playing the Scarecrow in a film version of The Wiz, a black version of The Wizard of Oz, with Diana Ross as Dorothy and Richard Pryor as The Wiz. Elvis Presley had died a year earlier. Frank Sinatra had recently organized a star-studded benefit in Las Vegas for ailing former Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis. The Number 1 song in America was "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," a duet between veteran Johnny Mathis and newcomer Deniece Williams. Within days, Bob Dylan would release his album Street-Legal.

The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey as the rock and roll pioneer, had just been released to theaters. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd had recently debuted The Blues Brothers on Saturday Night Live, having previously tried the idea out as The Killer Bees, which Belushi hated. A parody of the Beatles, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, and Ringo Starr's special Ringo had both aired on NBC. George Harrison had assisted with each. What John Lennon and Paul McCartney thought of either, I don't know. Paul and his band Wings had a Number 1 hit with "With a Little Luck," while John was still in his self-imposed "househusband" exile from music.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $3.66 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 15 cents, and a New York Subway ride 50 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was 65 cents, a cup of coffee 74 cents, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $1.65, a movie ticket $2.33, a new car $4,645, and a new house $61,600. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day before (a Friday) at 847.54.

The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago. Hardly anybody had mobile telephones, and they were huge. Automatic teller machines were still a relatively new thing, and many people had never seen one. There were heart transplants, liver transplants and lung transplants, and artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. There were birth control pills, but no Viagara.

Pong was widely available, but the Atari 2600 video game system hadn't yet caught on. Space Invaders was about to turn arcades from pinball-dominated to video-game-dominated. Personal computers were just beginning, with the Commodore VIC-20 still the leader. Apple was way off. Most people had never heard of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, and almost no one outside his inner circle had heard of Tim Berners-Lee.

In the Spring of 1978, Italy's former Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found, assassinated. A coup took place in the African nation of Comoros. Despite being 53 years old, Mavis Hutchinson became the 1st woman to run across America, doing it in 69 days. Atlantic City's 1st legal casino opened, Resorts International, in the former Haddon Hall hotel. (It still stands, at 1133 Boardwalk, under the name Resorts Casino Hotel, and, in a nod to when the first building in the complex was built, has a Roaring Twenties theme.) In baseball, Pete Rose collected his 3,000th career hit. His 44-game hitting streak was yet to begin. 

Aram Khachaturian, and Robert Menzies, and Lucius Clay died. Maria Menounos, and Brian Urlacher, and Dirk Nowitzki were born.

June 3, 1978. Affirmed, with Steve Cauthen aboard, won the Belmont Stakes, and with it the Triple Crown.

Now, American Pharoah has done it again, after 37 years. Let's hope we don't have to wait 37 years for another -- or even 25 years, like it was between Citation in 1948 and Secretariat in 1973.