It is 37 years since the last American Triple Crown winner in the United States, and I was lucky enough to ride him. Affirmed was his name, and he was the best I ever rode during my career back home in the 1970s.
It is 37 years since the last American Triple Crown winner in the United States, and I was lucky enough to ride him. Affirmed was his name, and he was the best I ever rode during my career back home in the 1970s.
Since then, we have seen 13 horses win the first two legs, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and then get beaten in the third and final leg, the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes.
And some of the good and great were among that beaten group: Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, and only last year, California Chrome.
So why have so many failed to pull it off? It is a question I am often asked, and my answer has always been the same: It takes a special horse.
The Triple Crown is a tremendously demanding test of a young thoroughbred. He must be the best over three different distances, on three racetracks, on three varying surfaces, and in three states - and he must be able to conquer those variables all in the space of five weeks.
To do that, a horse must have a great mind and a very strong constitution.
There is debate in American racing at present over whether they should change the distance of the Belmont and spread the races out more, allowing more time between legs, and generally make it a bit easier for horses to win the Triple Crown. But wouldn't that defeat the whole concept?
We celebrate Triple Crown winners because they are so rare, so special. If there was one every year or two years, sports fans would be bored by it. As it stands, American fans, and plenty more around the world, are watching to see if American Pharoah can do it this year.
I remember Affirmed as a true champion in 1978. He was not bred to get the distance, but he had a good mind and a big heart. He had that fierce desire to win.
I don't think Laz Barrera, his trainer, even worked him seriously on the track between the Preakness and the Belmont. But Affirmed still got the job done.
There were two other Triple Crown winners in the 1970s - and they broke the clock in workouts before the Belmont. Secretariat (1973) recorded 1min 34secs 'and change' for a mile, which they would run in a top-graded Stakes race, and Seattle Slew (1977) was worked hard twice before his final leg.
I think American Pharoah could easily become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed. His times haven't been fantastic, but with a small field expected in Saturday's Belmont, he may be able to dominate.
These days, I spend my time breeding a few horses on my farm in Kentucky - I have six mares - and raising my kids. I often think of England and the great times I had in racing there.
My favourite horse was Oh So Sharp, who won the fillies' Triple Crown in the colours of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed in 1985. Now, she was something special.
