A Glimpse at the 2010 Triple Crown
Each year, three year old horses from across the world gear up to take on the prestigious Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. The Triple Crown consists of three races, and winning all three is an honor that is rarely come by. It consists of the Belmont Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The last horse to have won the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. Other winners include Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973) and Seattle Slew (1977).
This year the Triple Crown races will take place as follows: the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 1 May 2010, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on 15 May 2010, and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on 5 June 2010. It is already gearing up to be a memorable event, with 366 horses already nominated to participate in this live horse racing spectacular. Early nominations are $600 per horse as opposed to the $6 000 price tag on late entries. All entries will be closing on 27 March 2010. A spectacular line-up of nominations has been received, including local and overseas entrants.
Horses such as Lookin At Lucky, Vale of York, She Be Wild and Blink Luck, have made their way onto the nominations list, with eight nominations from Ireland, three from Britain and four from Canada. Some of the top trainers have numerous nominations, such as Steven Asmussen, Nick Zito, John Sadler, Richard Mandella, Carl Nafzger, Neil Drysdale, William Mott and Bob Baffert. Nominations for this year’s event have dropped off a little compared to the 401 early nominations of 2009, and eleven were added to the nominations list after the early phase of nominations. Senior vice president for Churchill Downs racing, Donald Richardson, commented that even though the nomination field is smaller this year, it has not taken away the competitiveness of the event, as all the nominations are worthy contenders in their own right. Everyone will be holding their breath for the Kentucky Derby to see who will take the lead to be a contender for the Triple Crown title.
