2. The Trpple crown of Thoroughbred Racing in
the United states is a series of 3 races where
3 year old horses run in May and June of
each year
The races that they compete in are the
Kentucky Derby, Preakness stakes, and the
last one being the Belmont Stakes.
Only 11 horses have won the triple crown
These races have been referred to as the
triple crown as early as 1923.
The Trophy was first commissioned in 1950
3. This leg of the American triple Crown began
in 1875
The Kentucky Derby is held annually in
Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in
May.
Before this there is a 2 week Kentucky Derby
Festival.
This is a Grade I stakes race for three year
old thoroughbreds with a length of one and a
quarter miles
Known as “The most Exciting 2 minutes in
sports” or “The Fastest 2 minutes in sports
4. It was organized in 1972 by Meriwether
Lewis Clark Jr. who was the grandson of
William Clark
The race was first ran at 1 ½ miles but was
changed in 1896 to 1 ¼ miles.
The first derby was on May 17, 1975 in
front of 10,000 people with a field of 15
horses.
The inaugural Derby was won by jockey
oliver Lewis.
5. It is also called “The Run for the Roses”
because the winner gets a blanket of roses
draped over them.
This is the first leg of the American Triple
Crown
Fastest time for a Kentucky Derby winner
was set in 1973 at one minute 59 2/5
seconds set by Secretariat, a record that
stood for 41 years
6. American Flat Thoroughbred horse race held on the third
Saturday in may each year at Pimlico Race Course in
Baltimore, Maryland
This is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs
which is 1 3/16 miles on dirt.
Second Leg of the Triple Crown
First run in 1873 and was named by a former Maryland
governor Oden Bowie after winning colt at Pimlico
It is nicknamed “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans because
a blanket of yellow flowers altered to resemble Marylands
state flowers that is placed around the winner.
The 140th Preakness Stakes will be run on Saturday, May 16,
2015.
7. The first Preakness held on May 27,1873 was won
by John Chamberlain’s horse named Survivor.
This was the largest margin of victory until 2004
when Smarty Jones won it.
This race almost always attracts the Kentucky
Derby Winner
Just after the horses are called to the post the
crowd is invited to sing “Maryland, My Maryland”
which is the official state song.
Traditionally it was the Baltimore Colts Marching
band that led the song from the infield, today the
United States Naval Academy Glee club leads the
song.
8. In 1918 26 horses entered the race and it
was run in two divisions picking 2 winners
that year
Currently there are 14 horses that race in
the Preakness
The race was first televised by CBS in
1948
9. The first running of the Belmont Stakes in
1867 at Jerome Park took place on a
Thursday
The race was 1 5/8 miles long
It is the oldest of the Triple crown events and
the fourth oldest of the stakes in America
The trophy is the August Belmont Memorial
Cup which is a solid silver bowl and cover
made by Tiffany & Co.
It was presented by the Belmont Family in
1926
10. The white carnation is the traditional
Flower of the Belmont stakes.
The blanket of carnation is worn by the
Belmont Stakes winner and takes 5 hours
to create.
There has been 11 winners of the triple
crown at the Belmont stakes, The last one
being in 1978
11. This race is traditionally called “The Test of The
Champion” or “Run For The Carnations”
The trophy was first presented to ugust Belmont Jr.
in 1896 then it was later donated by the belmont
family for annual presentation in 1926.
Until 1996 the traditional song was the “Sidewalks
of New York” then from 1997 to 2009 the song
“Theme From New York” By frank sinatra was
played.
In 2010 Empire state of Mind by Jay Z was the
song played but then they changed back to “The
Theme from New York”
13. The Rawlings company has been the
official supplier of baseballs to the MLB
since 1977 and has been in the sports
equiptment business for over 125 years.
During the early history of baseball, teams
were expected to bring their own baseballs
to the field
Rawlings started producing baseballs in
1907
14. It became the official supplier of balls to MLB in
1968 when a anti-trust investigation forced
spalding to sell the rawlings portion of its holdings
For 8 years Rawlings supplied balls to both the
American League and the National League.
The American League got the Rawlings logo
stamp and the National league got the spalding
logo in 1976
Spaldings agreement with the NL explired in 1977
and baseball was continued to be sponsored by
Rawlings
15. In 1921 pitchers started to complain that
they couldn’t get a good grip on new balls
so the umpires started to rub infield dirt on
the baseball before the game
Lena Blackburnes rubbing mud is now
used to condition the balls before play
The condition of the balls during the game
is decided by the umpires who can say
whether a new ball is needed the minute it
is too scuffed up.
16. Elmer Blasco who was Rawlings manager
of advertising public relations and sales
back when it became the sponsor of
baseball saw that 83 percent of the players
were using this glove
They started an award called “the finest in
the field” in 1957 which was the Rawlings
gold glove award.
The first winners of the award were Nellie
Fox Al Kaline and Willie Mays.
