By The Numbers: Triple Crown Runners
Image:
Description:
Shackleford (right) and Animal Kingdom (left) battle it out in the 2011 Preakness Stakes. The pair went on to add more accomplishments to their resumes as older horses. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
As the most popular group of races in North America, the Triple Crown gets a lot of attention all year round. But not all of that attention is good.
One of the most common threads of conversation in relation to 3-year-olds in horse racing is that many of the horses running in the Triple Crown would be better off skipping the races if they want success later in their careers. While there are admittedly some horses that would be better in other spots, overall those who have run in the series don’t lose their talent after spending May and early June running in Triple Crown races.
After some research, it seems that the majority of horses actually go on to run well after trying their hand at winning a classic race. You can find the numbers for each of the years I looked up at the bottom of this blog but here is a brief rundown.
I checked the post-Triple Crown records of all 155 horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont from 2010 to 2014 and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.
Of those 155, 137 returned to the races after the Triple Crown with 15 members from the 2010-2013 classes not making a start after their 3-year-old year. It should be noted that 10 of the 18 horses that didn’t return to the races after the Triple Crown are from the 2014 3-year-old crop and five of those have put in works over the past 60 days, including Commissioner, Danza, General a Rod, Harry’s Holiday, and Ride On Curlin.
Another interesting number was the amount of success those who ran in the Triple Crown races had after the series.
While seeing that only 72 horses won post-Triple Crown stakes races may not look impressive at first glance, 102 of the Triple Crown runners won or placed at the stakes level. Five of the 56 graded stakes winners went on to win Breeders’ Cup races: Bayern (Breeders’ Cup Classic), Drosselmeyer (Breeders’ Cup Classic), Mucho Macho Man (Breeders’ Cup Classic), Trinniberg (Breeders’ Cup Sprint), and Goldencents (Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile twice). In addition, 12 more hit the board in Breeders’ Cup races after the Triple Crown.
THE TOP THREE FINISHERS IN THE 2013 BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC ALL RAN IN AT LEAST ONE TRIPLE CROWN RACE
The 2011 Triple Crown crop seemed to rule the roost with horses that returned after the Triple Crown. Obviously Dubai World Cup, and 2011 Kentucky Derby, winner Animal Kingdom and that year’s Preakness winner Shackleford are the most popular from that group, but 29 of the 31 runners in that year’s group didn’t let running in the Triple Crown stop their future success.
Led by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man, six of those 29 horses went on to either win or place in Breeders’ Cup races. In all, five horses from the 2011 Triple Crown crop bounced back to win Grade 1 races.
Focusing on the winners of the classic races (the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont) for a second, those horses don’t seem to have done too badly after the Triple Crown.
Just this year, California Chrome went on to win the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and place third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic after his dual-classic success. Tonalist, who spoiled California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid with a win in the Belmont, went on to win the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in September.
In all, seven of the 13 classic winners have won Grade 1 races after the Triple Crown. Of the six others who did not win a Grade 1 after the Triple Crown, two placed in Grade 1 races with one other – Ruler On Ice - winning an optional claiming race 18 months after his Belmont victory.
As for retiring early, seven classic winners continued or plan to continue to compete as older horses. Six of the winners retired during their 3-year-old year, with two retiring before they ran in a post-Triple Crown race.
Three of those winners will be racing as older horses in 2015—fans can look forward to seeing California Chrome, Tonalist, and Palace Malice on the track next year.
Triple Crown Runners’ Best Placings by the Numbers
Year
TC Runners
Post-TC Runners
BC Winners
BC Placers
GS Winners
GS Placers
Stakes Winners
2010
35
34
1
3
17 (8 G1, 7 G2, 2 G3)
3
2
2011
31
29
1
5
10 (5 G1, 2 G2, 3 G3)
4
6
2012
33
29
1
1
12 (4 G1, 3 G2, 5 G3)
2
4
2013
26
25
1
1
10 (5 G1, 3 G2, 2 G3)
6
0
2014
30
20
1
2
8 (3 G1, 3 G2, 2 G3)
3
3
Total
155
137
5
12
57 (25 G1, 18 G2, 14 G3)
18
15