First Start Back After a Triple Crown

If American Pharoah's connections stick to a planned racing return for the Triple Crown winner in either the Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) Aug. 1 at Saratoga Race Course or the Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park, it will be a schedule similar to the most recent Triple Crown winner, Affirmed in 1978.

For the first time in 37 years the connections of a U.S. horse—American Pharoah's owner Zayat Stables and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert—are considering a post-Triple Crown race strategy. While it's been nearly four decades, American Pharoah's connections are weighing many of the same factors the connections of the three Triple Crown winners from the 1970s considered: best timing for the horse, lucrative purses and potential bonuses, and opportunities to promote horse racing and the sport's latest star. 

A new wrinkle for American Pharoah's connections will be timing his races toward a start in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) Oct. 31 at Keeneland. The Breeders' Cup did not launch until 1984.

Good news for race fans is that American Pharoah's connections already have placed an emphasis on promoting the sport by providing access the 3-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile  . He was paraded on the Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) night card at Churchill Downs and a celebration is planned for June 27 at his Santa Anita Park base. Good news for the connections is that there are many lucrative races to choose from as tracks are scrambling to come up with added purse money and bonuses to attract American Pharoah.

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A victory in the return race is common for Triple Crown winners, as one might expect. Ten of the 11 previous Triple Crown winners returned to racing (all but 1943 winner Count Fleet), with seven of those 10 registering victories in their first start after capturing the crown.

The three Triple Crown winners who did not win their return? Seattle Slew finished fourth to J.O. Tobin in the 1977 Swaps Stakes (gr. I) at Hollywood Park, which probably ranks as the most surprising outcome for the return of a Triple Crown winner. Omaha finished third to 4-year-old future Hall of Famer Discovery in the 1935 Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack. Sir Barton finished second to Purchase in the 1919 Dwyer Stakes.

Sir Barton returned 29 days after completing the Triple Crown sweep, Omaha 14 days later, and Seattle Slew 23 days later.

The average time off after the Triple Crown for the 10 winners who returned to racing has been 36.1 days. Of that group, the longest time off was War Admiral, who returned 143 days after the sweep to win an Oct. 26 allowance race at Laurel Park. Three horses returned 14 days later—the aforementioned Omaha, 1941 winner Whirlaway, and 1946 winner Assault, who both won the Dwyer at Aqueduct in their quick turnarounds.

The Dwyer has been the most popular return race for Triple Crown winners as Gallant Fox also came back to win that race 21 days after his sweep. Aqueduct has been the most popular track for a Triple Crown winner's return, as host of five of the previous winners. In 1977 the Dwyer was moved to Belmont Park and the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds is still contested in late June or early July.

If American Pharoah comes back that first weekend in August, the timing would be similar to Affirmed's return. If the son of Pioneerof the Nile   returns in the Jim Dandy, he'd be returning in the same race as the 1978 Triple Crown winner. 

After completing his Triple Crown sweep in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) with a head victory over Alydar, Harbor View Farm homebred Affirmed returned to racing 59 days later in the Jim Dandy. This year the Jim Dandy would be 56 days from this year's Belmont (57 days for the Haskell).

For Affirmed, the timing proved to his liking as he won his return race in memorable fashion. Sensitive Prince opened a seven-length lead in the turn for home in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy at Saratoga but the Triple Crown winner, sent off at 1-20 odds under regular rider Steve Cauthen, refused to succumb at the Graveyard of Favorites while rallying strongly to post a half-length score.

Affirmed did not take home the trophy again that season; he finished first in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) but was placed second, behind his rival Alydar, for interference. He closed out the year with a pair of starts at Belmont, finishing second in the Marlboro Cup Handicap (gr. I) mid-September and fifth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) mid-October. 

Affirmed would return to racing as a 4-year-old and earned a second straight Horse of the Year title in 1979.

As mentioned, Seattle Slew did not fare as well as Affirmed in his first start after the Triple Crown. Before a Hollywood Park crowd of 68,115, the undefeated Triple Crown winner suffered his first defeat when J. O. Tobin scored a front-running victory in the 1 1/4-mile Swaps. Seattle Slew finished 16 lengths behind the winner. 

Some suggested Seattle Slew may have still been tired from his Triple Crown campaign completed just 23 days earlier, didn't adjust to carrying 126 pounds—six more than the winner—or disliked the track. Co-owner Dr. Jim Hill had none of it.

"We have absolutely no excuses," Hill told Blood-Horse the morning after the race. "Come back and look at him now as he walks around the shed. He is just fine.

"All I can say is that he was just dull yesterday. He's really fractious when the manure truck comes by in the morning but yesterday he didn't even seem to notice it."

Seattle Slew would not race again in 1977. He returned at age 4 and earned champion older horse honors in 1978.

Secretariat returned to racing 21 days after his record-setting Belmont when Arlington Park finalized plans for the $125,000 Arlington Invitational Stakes just 11 days before its June 30 running. Trainer Lucien Laurin told Arlington officials if they could put the race together, Secretariat would be there.

"Even before the Belmont, you remember, I said I didn't know how I could really give this horse a rest. He's so strong and full of energy," Laurin told Blood-Horse when the Arlington race came together. "Well this is only a week-and-a-half after the Belmont and believe me when I tell you, if I don't run this horse he's going to hurt himself in his stall."

The connections of Secretariat most assuredly embraced the role of racing star. He was even paraded extra times in the walking ring before the race to give fans a close look.

"So we decided it would be nice to race him in Chicago to let the people in the Midwest have a chance to see him run. You wouldn't believe the hundreds of letters I've received," Laurin said. "A lot of those people out there haven't had a chance to see him and they never will unless we bring him out."

Secretariat, carrying 126 and spotting all rivals six pounds, was 1-20 while the other four 3-year-olds were grouped as a field wager and sent off at nearly 6-1 before a crowd of 41,223. After enjoying a clear lead at each call, Secretariat drew off in the far turn to register a nine-length score, completing the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:47 and missing the track record, set by Damascus, by a fifth of a second.

"Secretariat could have broken the record if I wanted," jockey Ron Turcotte noted afterward. "I kept him 10 to 12 feet off the rail all the time."

Secretariat won three of his final five starts that year. Facing older horses for the first time, he was upset by Onion in his next start, the Whitney Handicap (gr. II) Aug. 4 at Saratoga Race Course. He then took the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in mid-September at Belmont and finished second to Prove Out in the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) there. Shifted to turf for his final two starts, Secretariat won the Man o'War Stakes (gr. IT) Oct. 8 at Belmont and finished in late October with a win in the Canadian International Championship Stakes (gr. IIT) at Woodbine. 

Those final two efforts landed him champion 3-year-old turf honors along with his champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year awards in 1973.