The 2017 Triple Crown and other important races

The 2015 season saw the first triple crown in 37 years when American Pharoah dominated all three triple crown races. Trainer Bob Baffert usually puts two of his horses in a race when he thinks they are equal. Going into the Kentucky Derby, Dortmund and American Pharoah were so thought of. But American Pharoah beat Dortmund and the other horses handily in the Kentucky Derby. Very often the first two finishers in the Derby are 1-2 in the Preakness as well. This was the case again. But the 112 mile Belmont is a different story. It is usually won by a horse with a dosage index of 3.5 or lower. Indeed, the great Sunday Silence, at 3.8, was crushed by his rival Easy Goer. As Easy Goer’s jockey Pat Day told me then and, to this day he is still convinced, that Easy Goer was the better horse even though Sunday Silence won three of their four major races together. Easy Goer won the Belmont while Sunday Silence won the Derby, the Preakness and the Breeders’ Cup Classic…