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The English Triple Crown Series: whether you own race horses, breed horses or train them, nothing is comparable to a horse winning the Triple Crown Series. The prizes and prestige, some argue, is what makes this series special. Although it might be the truth for some, this type has a special legacy that makes it different from other kinds of horse races.

British horse racing first heard the term “Triple Crown” in 1853; it was the year West Australian, a thoroughbred racehorse, won three of the most prestigious horse races that were currently offered in British horse racing. The three sought after victories occurred in the: 2000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger. The victorious winning of three horse races was a major occasion, and the horse named Western Australian was the first horse to win the Triple Crown. Over the years, the title would become more coveted and earn its prestigious status in the British horse racing world and has made being a member of a horse racing syndicate ever more popular.

The main things that give the British Triple Crown its success and prestige are the three races it entails. In either April or May, the beginning of the 2000 Guineas Stakes, will be held at Newmarket Racecourse. The course for the race is one mile long on a flat surface. The Guineas Stakes, which was run as a leg of the Triple Crown for the first time in 1809, was the final race to be added to the Triple Crown.

The Epsom Derby, held at Epsom Downs racecourse, comes after the Guineas Stakes. The race spans about a mile and a half. Since 1780, the Epsom Derby has been held every year in June. In fact, the race is considered to be one of the most important of the English Classic Races.

The race that is third is the St. Leger St. Leger Stakes is the longest of the three races, with a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs, and 132 yards. The length of the third race makes it, the final race, the true test of the Triple Crown. Doncaster Racecourse holds St. Leger Stakes, a race run there every September since 1776 The St. Leger is one of the oldest races still running in England.

The Triple Crown has 3 distinct and challenging races; it is an excellent achievement for the racehorse trainer, the owner, the jockey and the breeder; the breeder breeds a horse that has the capacity to run for a trophy that many covet in the world of British horse racing. Since 1853, only 14 horses have been able to claim the title of the Triple Crown; a number that expresses just how difficult the title is to earn.

Preakness Stakes probabilities will probably favor Animal Kingdom on Saturday, May 21st in the 136th running of the preakness stakes.

The Preakness is the 2nd race in horse racing’s Triple Crown and the shortest of the three contests.  Get ready for Preakness gambling by starting an account at the sportsbook.

Preakness Stakes odds have been in existence since 1873 and the competition has been run every year with the exception of two years in the late 1800’s. The race was 1st run at a mile and a half but that was quickly modified to a mile and fourth.

The race then was run at a mile and a quarter, a mile and a sixteenth, a mile and 70 yards, one mile, a mile and an 8th and the current mile and 3/16th.  The greatest crowd in Preakness wagering was in 2001 when 104,454 were in attendance at Pimlico.  The all-time major trainer was Robert W. Walden with 7 wins whilst jockey Eddie Arcaro had 6 wins.

When you get ready for Preakness handicapping you want to bear in mind that the top post is #6 whereas the #4 is second greatest.  The rail is not the kiss of death in the Preakness that it is in the Derby as a variety of horses have won from the rail although many of those victories were early in the race’s history.

As opposed to the Derby, favorites do pretty well in the Preakness. Actually, faves win the Preakness almost half the time.  Long shots basically do not do well in the Preakness so don’t expect to see the huge payoffs that you saw in the Derby.  The greatest shot to ever win the Preakness was Master Derby at 23-1.

Big name mounts have won the Preakness the last three years.  A year ago it was Lookin at Lucky, in 2008 it was Rachel Alexandra and in 2007 it was Curlin.  This year the fave in Preakness Stakes probabilities will be Animal Kingdom who is arriving from a solid win in the Kentucky Derby.

3 years ago Big Brown won the Preakness following winning the Derby however the mount failed in the Belmont. There has not been a Triple Crown victor since Affirmed in 1978.  Animal Kingdom will try and win the Preakness on Saturday, May 21st and stay alive for mount racing’s Triple Crown.

Richard Hughes will adopt his customary waiting tactics on Dick Turpin in Tuesday’s Juddmonte International Stakes at York.

Richard Hannon’s consistent three-year-old was supplemented for the prestigious 10-furlong Group One contest on Wednesday, with owner John Manley forced to fork out £50,000 for the pleasure of seeing him attempt the trip for the first time.

However, after victory over a mile in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly, connections have high hopes of stretching his stamina.

“They asked me for my opinion. It’s a very brave decision by John and it’s a credit to him, it’s really made it a proper Group One,” said Hughes.

“We were thinking of running him over 10 furlongs in a Group Two in France on Sunday with a 7lb penalty but my reasoning was if you are not going to stay 10 furlongs, you may as well do it against the big boys.

“John was very happy to supplement. He asked me if he’d stay and I said I think he will, but I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and say he’ll definitely stay and also ‘it’s not my money, it’s yours’.

“John was quite happy to make the decision on his own behalf with the advice that we’ve given him. I’ll ride him to get the trip and if he has a turn of foot over a mile-and-two, he’s going to be a serious horse.”

Godolphin have two chances with Cutlass Bay and Cavalryman, with the latter also having the option of the Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on Saturday.

“It is possible that Cavalryman could run in the Juddmonte International Stakes. He is in good form,” said Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford.

“He pulled a muscle at Royal Ascot and didn’t run any type of race there, but prior to that at Epsom he ran well. Hopefully he will come back and have a good second half of the season.”

Richard Hannon picked up another big juvenile prize when Libranno pinged out of the stalls and made all the running under Richard Hughes to take the Tanqueray Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Enjoying his sixth success of the week, Hughes had to wake up the youngster inside the final furlong to score by one and a quarter lengths from The Paddyman in the Group Two contest.

The latter had been well-backed at 4-1 and looked menacing with two furlongs remaining, but Libranno found plenty in front, to the delight of the packed grandstands, returning as a warm 5-4 favourite.

Hughes said: “I was trying to get him to relax and get him breathing early on, as for nearly a minute I couldn’t feel his belly going. He jumped extremely fast and I let him go to the front, but in the last two furlongs he was gawping at everything.

“I think he kills horses off halfway through the race with his speed and then just grinds it out at the finish. He had a hard race the last day and a tough enough race today, but he’s a decent horse and a fast horse.”

When asked about a potential next port of call for the juvenile, Hughes added: “Ideally something like the Prix Morny, but that might come a bit quick for him.”

Hannon said: “We took him to Newmarket very raw, but we still thought he’d have a good chance in the July Stakes, and he’s won very well again today.

“I don’t really know what we’re going to do with him now. It’s up to the owner really, but he wouldn’t want much further than six furlongs unless we can teach him to race in a different way.”

Hughes went on to notch his 100th winner of the season, and effectively wrapped up the Goodwood jockeys’ title, as he rode The Queen’s Royal Exchange (3-1 joint-favourite) to victory in the RSA Nursery.

Winning trainer Hannon added: “It’s great for Hughesie and for Her Majesty. This horse wants a mile really.”

Tom Queally will ride dual 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty for Criquette Head-Maarek in the Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.

Queally – fresh from Group One success on the Henry Cecil-trained Twice Over in the Eclipse at the weekend – comes in for the ride after Christophe Lemaire suffered a leg fracture in a fall at Compiegne on Monday afternoon.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told Press Association Sport: “Tom Queally will ride Special Duty in the Falmouth on Wednesday. It looks a hot race, but she’s in grand form and we’re looking forward to it.”

A high-class field of eight will go to post for the opening day highlight of the July meeting.

Group One winners dominate the field, with Special Duty aiming for a hat-trick after being awarded her two Classic victories in the stewards’ room.

Aidan O’Brien’s Lillie Langtry is looking to follow up her impressive win in the Coronation Stakes, while Lahaleeb will be having her first start for Gerard Butler since being bought by current connections for £1million guineas.

Adding further strength in depth is Sir Michael Stoute’s Strawberrydaiquiri, a gutsy winner of the Windsor Forest at Royal Ascot.

Just touched off in the same race was James Fanshawe’s Spacious and the pair will clash again, with Kieren Fallon taking over in the saddle as Johnny Murtagh is on board Lillie Langtry.

Mick Channon’s luckless Music Show has run well in all the top races so far this season but only has a victory in the Nell Gwyn to show for her efforts, while Mark Johnston’s Rainfall is the most unexposed horse in the field, winning the Jersey Stakes against the colts on only her third start.

The field is completed by Jim Bolger’s Gile Ne Greine, third in the Guineas at Newmarket and second in the Coronation Stakes last time out.

The Historical past of the Coral Eclipse at Sandown

The Eclipse Stakes can be a Group 1 flat horse race in Fantastic Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It can be run at Sandown Park over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 7 yards, and it truly is scheduled to take location each year in early July.

The event is named after Eclipse, a celebrated 18th-century racehorse. It was started in 1886, and its inaugural prize fund was £10,000. This was contributed by Leopold de Rothschild at the request of General Owen Williams, a co-founder of Sandown Park. At that time it was initially Britains richest ever race (the exact same years Derby Stakes was worth £4,600). From its launch, the Eclipse Stakes attracted high-quality fields.

The initial 3 finishers in 1903:
Ard Patrick
Sceptre
Rock Sand
….. had won seven Classics among them.

The race has been sponsored by the bookmaker Coral since 1976, and it truly is now familiarly identified since the Coral Eclipse. It has continued to feature Classic winners, as well as the most recent of these to attain victory was Sea the Stars (the 2,000 Guineas and Derby winner) in 2009.

Richard Hannon dominated the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot as Canford Cliffs oozed class to get the better of his stablemate Dick Turpin.

The winner was settled some way off the pace by a confident Richard Hughes, who held on to the 11-4 joint-favourite for as long as possible as Steinbeck led into the turn.

Dick Turpin went for home, but Canford Cliffs quickened up impressively to go past and win by a length, with Pat Eddery’s Hearts Of Fire running a massive race in third.

Hughes said: “The most important thing I had to do was to get my horse to settle very early in the race, slip the bridle out and ride him a race.

“I said all week I knew I was on the best horse, but I just needed a bit of luck in running.

“I could afford to give them five lengths riding on a horse like Canford Cliffs, but I could feel a shoe go turning for home and that was a bit of a worry.

“He just might have hit a flat spot and I soon got him going again and he’s beaten a very good horse in Dick Turpin too.

“Being on him is like getting into a Rolls Royce instead of a Morris Minor. The difference is unbelievable. You just sit on him and everything is smooth and is electric. He has so much speed and that’s his forte.”

Hannon added: “He’s got better and better and he only had to settle in his races. He has got to go for Group Ones, so I suppose the Sussex Stakes and the Jacques le Marois would be possibilities.”

Makfi, winner of the 2000 Guineas, was only seventh of the nine and his jockey Olivier Peslier reported: “He was running a good race until turning into the straight. I tried to go on the outside but there was no power – he found nothing.”

Eleanora Duse emerged a most appropriate winner of the Lord Weinstock Memorial Stakes at Newbury in the colours of the race sponsors Ballymacoll Stud.

Many top quality horses have carried the pale colours of Lord Weinstock, a celebrated businessman and the force behind Ballymacoll, and his widow Lady Weinstock made a rare visit to the racecourse to watch the improving daughter of Azamour in action.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Eleanora Duse finished a length behind Aviate in the Musidora Stakes at York but faced a swarm of similar types in this Listed event.

Ryan Moore, who was to ride three more winners on the card, collared the front-running Deidre with two of the 10 furlongs left and his mount, an 11-4 shot, bounded two and a quarter lengths clear.

Pink Symphony, just behind Eleanora Duse in the Musidora, confirmed the form in second, while 9-4 favourite Lady Darshaan was a touch disappointing in fourth.

Stoute’s partner, Coral Pritchard-Gordon, said: “Ryan was very pleased with her and he said that she stayed very well. He said that on better ground she could be an even nicer filly and she looks the part.”

Lady Weinstock said: “I’m often asked how often I go racing and I always reply, ‘Only when they win’.”

There were a handful of interesting events on a grey and rather sleepy afternoon in Berkshire.

Most notable was the other of Moore’s winners for Stoute in division one of the sportingbet.com Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.

Nouriya (8-11 favourite) had shown great promise in both of her previous starts, the latest behind the smart Gertrude Bell at the course in April, and she simply outclassed her rivals.