Marvin Drager - Most Glorious Crown: The Story of Americas Triple Crown Thoroughbreds from Sir Barton to American Pharaoh

To Lenore and Sharon, Laura, Iris

The women in my life

With love, thanks, and gratitude for the patience and equanimity

with which you endured oft-told horse tales.

M.D.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Special thanks and recognition for their generous time, cooperation, and assistance to:

Bob Curran Jr.The Jockey Club

John I. DayThoroughbred Racing Associations

Calvin S. RaineyThe Jockey Club

John KennedyThe Jockey Club

Robert F. Kelley

Alfred G. VanderbiltNew York Racing Association

William C. Steinkraus

Charles Hatton Daily Racing Form

Cathy C. SchenckKeeneland Library

Amelia K. BuckleyKeeneland Library

Phyllis RogersKeeneland Library

George CassidyNew York Racing Association

Charles J. LangThe Maryland Jockey Club (Pimlico Race Course)

Philip McAuleyCasper, Wyoming, Star-Tribune

Owen A. FrankCasper, Wyoming, Star-Tribune

John A. Cypher Jr.King Ranch

J. K. Northway, DVMKing Ranch

Dick NashLos Angeles Turf Club (Santa Anita Park)

George LobrisNarragansett Racing Association (Narragansett Park)

Stan BowkerKnights of Ak-Sar-Ben

Robert P. BenoitHollywood Turf Club (Hollywood Park)

Francis DunneNew York State Racing Commission

Bud HylandThe Jockey Club

Pat LynchNew York Racing Association (Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Saratoga)

Thomas S. RiveraChicago Thoroughbred Enterprises (Arlington Park)

William J. (Buddy) Hirsch

H. A. (Jimmy) JonesMonmouth Park Jockey Club

William RudyChurchill Downs

Alex RobbNew York State Breeders Service

Michael P. Sandler Daily Racing Form

Fred Grossman Daily Racing Form

Sam SicilianoPimlico Race Course

John CooneyThe Jockey Club

Martha MischoThe Jockey Club

Marguerite SmithersThe Jockey Club

Jack FletcherUnited Press International

Mike LeTourneauWide World Photos

Marty MonroeWide World Photos

Humphrey Finney

Charlie KenneyStoner Creek Stud

Louis WeintraubNew York Racing Association

Steve Haskin Daily Racing Form

Jennifer Lusk Daily Racing Form

The New York Public Library

Columbia University Library

Kerry CorderoNew Video

John LeeNew York Racing Association

... and the many people in the United States, Canada, England, and France who were kind enough to take time out to respond to inquiries I made in the course of researching the book.

This book was prepared with a dedicated devotion to the accuracy of the information contained within its covers. Any errata which may crop up are purely unintentional, for which the author begs the readers indulgence.

M.D.

Covering the American Pharoah tour for Newsday from Derby week into the autumn of 2015 was the most interesting assignment of my 39 years in journalism, the past 20 of them spent writing extensively about Thoroughbred racing.

Thanks to the Jockey Clubs Bob Curran (aka Bob the Bills fan) for connecting me with Laura Drager, executor for this books original author, the late Marvin Drager.

Im grateful to Newsday executive Maryann Skinner for giving me permission to update The Most Glorious Crown . I want to thank Newsday sports editor Hank Winnicki, who green-lighted two extra trips from Long Island to Churchill Downs before and after the Belmont Stakes, and my assignment editor, Mike Rose.

Bob Bafferts insights and offbeat sense of humor made the job easier and often entertaining, and his assistant trainer, Jimmy Barnes, was always willing to talk about the colt he supervised constantly. Owner-breeder Ahmed Zayat generously shared his time and observations about his horse of a lifetime.

Information from the following sources was crucial: paulickreport.com, Daily Racing Form , bloodhorse.com, The New York Times , Louisville Courier-Journal , New York Daily News , Lexington Herald-Leader , ESPN, Americas Best Racing, NBC, HRTV, and TVG.

Thanks to everyone who shared contacts, quotes, information, and companionship along the way.

Team Pharoahs Victor Espinoza, Justin Zayat, Joanne Zayat, Georgie Alvarez, Bode Baffert, Jill Baffert, Eduardo Luna, and Dana Barnes; Ashford Stud; trainers John Terranova, Tonja Terranova, Simon Callaghan, Keith Desormeaux, Kiaran McLaughlin, D. Wayne Lukas, Billy Turner, Todd Pletcher, Dale Romans, Norman Casse, Dallas Stewart, Christophe Clement, Alan Sherman, Art Sherman, Nick Zito, Rick Dutrow, and Doug ONeill; jockeys Kent Desormeaux, Martin Garcia, Gary Stevens, Mario Gutierrez, and exercise rider Willie Delgado; racehorse owners Jerry Crawford, Mike Iavarone, J. Paul Reddam, Steve Coburn, and Perry Martin; Triple Crown alumni Penny Chenery, Patrice Wolfson, Dr. Jim Hill, Susan Hill, Steve Cauthen, Ron Turcotte, and Jean Cruguet; race callers Larry Collmus, Dave Rodman, Travis Stone, and Frank Mirahmadi; racehorse rescue organizations ReRun and After the Finish Line; veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage; retired veterinarian Dr. William McGee; my old friends Dave Hirsch, Jack Reilly, and Rick Maddock; journalists Frank Angst, Jerry Bailey, Jerry Bossert, Raychel Brightman, Bobby Cassidy, Bob Costas, Steven Crist, Joe Drape, Jim Dunleavy, Bob Ehalt, Mike Farrell, Ron Flatter, Teresa Genaro, David Grening, Melissa Hoppert, Mike Jarboe, John Keating, Joe Kristufek, Tim Layden, Jonathan Lintner, Barbara Livingston, Mike MacAdam, Marty McGee, Randy Moss, Bob Neumeier, Claire Novak, Tom Pedulla, John Pricci, Jay Privman, Jennie Rees, Richard Rosenblatt, John Rowe, Nicole Russo, Mark Singelais, Mike Watchmaker, Tim Wilkin, John C. Williams Jr., and Alicia Wincze-Hughes; executives Darren Rogers, John Asher (Churchill Downs); David Joseph (Pimlico); Christopher Kay, Martin Panza (New York Racing Association); Bob Kulina, Dennis Drazin, John Heims (Monmouth Park), and Jim Gluckson (Breeders Cup).

Thanks to these media relations people for their assistance: John Durso Jr., Jenny Kellner, Jeanne Schnell, Mike Kane, Phil Janack, and Tony Podlaski (New York Racing Association); Mac McBride, Ed Gray, and Ryan Martin (Churchill Downs).

All my love and gratitude goes out to my wife, Jean, our son, Jim, and daughter, Beth, for putting up with my racing obsession for all these years. And thanks to our late, great black Lab, Linus, for the best 11 years anyone could ever spend with a pet.

E.M.

Introduction

A small red box with gold snap-lock and hinges sits atop a tall green safe in the posh offices of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA). It contains a triangular, three-sided, sterling silver vase approximately eight inches tall, which symbolizes the epitome of achievement for a three-year-old Thoroughbred. It is the Triple Crown of American turfdom.

Each side of the trophy represents one of the three races that a single horse must win in a single year to earn the title. Often referred to as the three jewels in the Triple Crown, they are the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, three of the oldest classics of Americas king of sports.

From 1978 through 20 4, every spring, the vase had been sent to its designer, Cartier, to be burnished to a painfully brilliant gloss in anticipation of the next winner of the trophy. On the second week of June, in each of these years, the vase was returned to its red box, which was returned to its perch atop the tall green safe in the posh offices of the TRA, as yet another season passed without a recipient.

The fact is, from 1875 through 20 , the years that all three races have been in existence simultaneously, only 1 horses have won the Triple Crown, making it the most elusive championship in all of sports. T he members of this exclusive club of titleholders are: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978) , and American Pharoah (2015) .