American Pharoah Becomes First Triple Crown Winner in 37 Years at Belmont Stakes

The sport of horse racing hasn't seen a Triple Crown in 37 years. That is, until yesterday when American Pharoah and his jockey, Victor Espinoza, won it at the Belmont Stakes. American Pharoah became the 12th horse in history to achieve the feat and joined the likes of Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Citation and War Admiral. Espinoza became the first native Mexican to win the Triple Crown.

American Pharoah went into the Kentucky Derby as a favorite. At Churchill Downs, he had a tough time getting past the horses Firing Line and Dortmund, but at the Preakness, Pharoah showed just how dominant he was. Nobody stood a chance against him. On Saturday, American Pharoah became the quickest winner at Belmont since 2001. His lead was clocked in at 2:26.65.

Espinoza said he was confident going into this race -- more confident than in other years.

"I come here with a lot of confidence -- more confidence than anywhere," Espinoza said. "This time, I had so much confidence in American Pharoah. That trophy caused me a lot of stress. But the third time is the charm."

American Pharoah's trainer, Bob Baffert, tried for more than 18 years to get the Triple Crown. On three occasions, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness but failed at Belmont. In 1997, his horse, Silver Charm, was passed in the deep stretch. 1998 was no different. That year, Real Quiet lost at the last second. In 2002, War Emblem became the third horse to lose right before winning the Triple Crown. American Pharoah negated all those losses.

The last horse to win three of North America's biggest race was Affirmed all the way back in 1978. Since then, we've seen a slew of horses come close to winning the Triple Crown but all 13 failed.

 "Victor Espinoza has had a shot to win the Triple Crown going on three times. If he wins on American Pharoah this year, American Pharoah will be the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. Three goes into twelve four time. Four is how many times Bob Baffert has had a chance to win the Triple Crown with one of his horses."- @king.wildcat.red before the Derby. I thought this was a cool analysis! Well, we have a Triple Crown Winner! #triplecrown #americanpharoah #horseracing #champion #belmontstakes

A photo posted by ☥American Pharoah☥ (@american.pharoah) on Jun 6, 2015 at 5:13pm PDT