Only 12 horses have won the American Triple Crown and only four have done it in the last 70 years.

It’s challenging. Difficult beyond belief. Three championship races for three-year-olds in the space of only five weeks, all in the first half of the year.

To make it even more of a mountain to climb, the G1 Kentucky Derby, over a mile and a quarter, which frequently becomes a ‘gut buster,’ is the first leg.

The Derby is rapidly followed by the G1 Preakness, over nine and a half furlongs, two weeks later, which in turn is followed by the G1 Belmont Stakes, over a mile and a half, a further three weeks on.

Any horse capable of winning his way through this series of tests is indeed special and worthy of celebration as a supreme equine athlete.

It is no surprise that so few have been able to pull it off. Yet, it is also remarkable that following a 25-year drought in which no horse completed the iconic hat-trick, there were then three Triple Crown winners in the 1970s — Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978).

Just when racefans were growing accustomed to seeing these ultra-champions almost on a regular basis, there was nothing for the next 37 years, until American Pharoah in 2015.

That is the background to the attempt by this year’s superstar Justify to win the G1 Belmont Stakes, third leg of the coveted crown, in New York on Saturday, 9 June.

The unbeaten colt, who is owned by a consortium which includes Winstar Farms and China Horse Club, was brilliant in winning the Kentucky Derby in the wettest conditions seen in recent times, and then tough as teak as he bravely fought off his Preakness rivals in the fog at Pimlico.

Bob Baffert, his trainer, continues to heap praise on Justify, consistently rating him alongside American Pharoah and Arrogate, his two modern day champions, and he was impressed this time by the way the colt toughed it out.

“Good Magic really put it to us — it was like they had their own private match race. Justify is such a great horse to handle all the pressure. He really had to work for it but he has the talent. I’ve never had one run that fast here at Pimlico,” Baffert said.

It was the fifth time Baffert had completed the Derby-Preakness double.

Now, the media focus will be on Justify as he prepares for the Belmont. It will be as intense as that generated by American Pharoah three years ago, and there will be endless discussion on whether the Scat Daddy colt has the stamina to see out the mile and a half distance of the Belmont.

Three horses, who did not contest the Preakness, are likely to be serious dangers to Justify. They are Audible, who finished third in the Derby, My Boy Jack (fifth) and Hofburg (seventh).

All the ingredients are there to make this one of the most memorable runnings of the Belmont in the modern era. It is now up to Justify to live up to his reputation and be crowned the 13th Triple Crown winner.