Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner American Pharoah wins the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes in New York on Saturday, June 6, to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed did so in 1978.
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Sir Barton was the first horse to earn the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, as it would come to be known, by winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1919.
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More than a decade later, Gallant Fox captured the Triple Crown in 1930.
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Jockey Pat Beasley rides Omaha in 1936. The horse won the Triple Crown in 1935.
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War Admiral won the Triple Crown in 1937. He won 21 of his 26 career starts.
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Whirlaway, right, won the Triple Crown in 1941.
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Count Fleet, who won the Triple Crown in 1943, is adorned with flowers after winning the Preakness that year.
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Assault won the Triple Crown in 1946.
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Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948.
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Secretariat, left, heads to victory at the Kentucky Derby in 1973. Considered by many to be the greatest racehorse of all time, Secretariat still holds the record for the fastest times in all three Triple Crown races. He won the Belmont by an astounding 31 lengths.
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Jockey Jean Cruguet guides Seattle Slew to the Triple Crown in 1977.
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Jockey Steve Cauthen rides Affirmed to a Belmont victory in 1978.