Will American Pharoah Win The Triple Crown?

When I was a soon to be junior in high school in 1978, I turned on the television to watch the Belmont Stakes and what turned out to be sporting history as Affirmed won the Triple Crown.

Just the year before in 1977, I got to see Seattle Slew win the Triple Crown just four years after the amazing run of Secretariat who set the Belmont Stakes speed record in a blazing  2:24.00 run to capture the Triple Crown in 1973.

Some of you TransGriot readers have yet to have this happen in your lives just once.

But after teenaged me got to see three horses win the Triple Crown in my lifetime, it has now been 37 years since that June day I watched Affirmed do it.  13 horses have had a shot to join the short list of Triple Crown winning race horses but have had those dreams dashed by the 1.5 miles of the Belmont and fresh horses taking them out.

American Pharoah, who is owned by an Egyptian-American, has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.   Will I get to see sporting history made today or will I see another horse valiantly try to make that history but fall just short of it?

I'll be tuned in later today to find out if the horse with the misspelled name makes history

TransGriot Update:   Yep, American Pharoah did it!  Won the 147th Belmont Stakes wire to wire to become the first horse in 37 years to win the Triple Crown.