WASHINGTON — Could 2014 finally be the year we see a Triple Crown winner?
We’re going to find out on Saturday at 6:52 p.m. EST when the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes kicks off and California Chrome looks to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
While everyone in Elmont New York will be fired up and looking to celebrate this potentially rare feat, Triple Crown dreams have come to die 12 times since Affirmed’s trifecta of wins. While California Chrome is the best horse on paper, on Friday afternoon his odds were 3-5, other horses who dreamed big after winning the first two races in the past 12 years have come up short, or in I’ll Have Another’s case in 2012 didn’t have the opportunity to fail at all in the Belmont.
War Emblem lost by 19 and a half lengths in 2002. Smarty Jones broke America’s heart when he was passed by Birdstone late in the Belmont in 2004 to finish second. Big Brown finished dead last by 25
