Aug27 wrote:Does anyone know: when was the last time the winners of the three triple crown races all faced each other in a race and none of them even hit the board !?
Maybe some kind of record there ...
What a weird year. I guess "parity" comes to thoroughbred racing!
Also of note: in analyzing Beyers of Maiden, Allowance, and Stakes runners (who finished 1-2-3) over the past four years, no one has a higher average Beyer than Bob Baffert.
How does he keep getting the superior stock and performing at such a high level? It really is quite amazing.
Hi Aug27,
I have to agree with you, Baffert's training feats are amazing. You are right again as this Travers is one for the record books. This is the third time in racing history that this happened when three individual winners of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont met up in the Travers. On all 3 occasions the Classic winners were beaten...but this is the first time none finished 2nd or 3rd (though this was by far the largest field to ever meet the classic winners in the Travers)....though the Belmont winner, Tapwrit did manage to finish 4th this year. The last time was in 1982, it was only a five horse field. Runaway Groom won the race, Aloma's Ruler (Preakness winner) was 2nd, Conquistador Cielo (Belmont winner) was 3rd, Lejoli 4th and Gato Del Sol (Derby winner) finished last. Before that the year was 1918 and just 4 horses started in the Travers...with Sun Briar the victor over Belmont Stakes winner Johren 2nd, Preakness winner War Cloud 3rd and Derby winner Exterminator was 4th and last. TJ