Reasons American Pharoah Has Long Odds To Win Triple Crown

When the field at the 147th Belmont Stakes breaks from its gates at 6:50 pm ET on NBC, eyes will be transfixed on Post No. 5 where American Pharoah will be positioned. The Bob Baffert trained horse, with jockey Victor Espinoza who will ride him, American Pharoah has a shot (and a pretty good one) to win the race and enter the pantheon of horseracing legends. And while a horse hasn’t had odds this good in some time of winning the Holy Grail of horseracing (he has a 3-5 morning line odds line), having won the Kentucky Derby handily and the Preakness in the pouring rain, it’s still long odds based on history. Here’s five reasons why:

37 Years And Counting

The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. For those counting that’s 37 years. Along with Affirmed, there have been 11 other horses to pull off the coveted feat: Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omah

a, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, and Seattle Slew. That tells you how tough the Belmont Stakes is.

The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. For those counting that’s 37 years. Along with Affirmed, there have been 11 other horses to pull off the coveted feat: Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, and Seattle Slew. That tells you how tough the Belmont Stakes is.

The Marathon That Is the Belmont Stakes

The track is a grueling 1 1/2 Miles at the Belmont, which is one of the biggest reasons that there have been so few Triple Crown winners. Compare that to the Kentucky Derby (1 1⁄4 miles) and the Preakness (1 3/16 miles). The last turn to the finish is a titanic 1,097 feet. The 3-year-old American Pharoah will not only have to have strong legs, he’ll need to have the lungs and stamina to pull out the win. Add in that massive downpour hit the race track on the morning of the race, and it will put in more strain on the horses.

How Many Have Won The First Two Legs, But Fell Short At The Belmont?

American Pharoah could join 11 other horses and be the first to win the Triple Crown in 17 years, but he could also join a group of 14 other horses that won the first two legs, only to come up short at the Belmont. Those horses are Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, I’ll Have Another and California Chrome, who had the chance last year.