A Triple Crown Award in baseball consists of leading in batting average, RBIs, and home runs.  In horse racing, the Triple Crown is a whole other award.  You have to win the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.  This year, trainer Bob Baffert’s horse won the Triple Crown, American Pharoah.  Going into both the Kentucky and Belmont, I picked the horse with 2nd best odds.  American Pharoah with the best odds, won both races.

Last year, a horse named California Chrome had won both the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, and he lost the Belmont to a horse that didn’t race in either.  Chrome was beaten by several long shots, two with 20-1 odds, one with 8-1 odds, and one with 6-1.  Chrome had the best odds.  “A horse that didn’t race in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes shouldn’t qualify for the Belmont Stakes”, Art Sherman, Chrome’s trainer said.

Several Triple Crown attempting horses have been beaten by horses that didn’t meet Sherman’s guidelines.  So I would agree with what Sherman said.  Pharoah was the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.  It is near impossible to win this award, noting that these are the three toughest races to win in horse racing, in front of, in my opinion, a horse race called “The Amazing Race”.