June 11, 1919: The 1st Thoroughbred Triple Crown

June 11, 1919: For the 1st time, a horse wins American thoroughbred racing's "Triple Crown." Except it barely gets noticed at the time.

It used to be that the 3 biggest sports in America were baseball, boxing, and horse racing, "the Sport of Kings." And its 3 biggest races became known as the "Triple Crown." Those races are the Kentucky Derby, traditionally run on the 1st Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, a mile and one-quarter; the Preakness Stakes, usually run 2 Saturdays later at Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, a mile and three-sixteenths; and the Belmont Stakes, usually run on the 1st Saturday in June at Belmont Park, just outside the New York City Line in Elmont, Long Island, New York, a race known due to its distance, a mile and a half, as "the true test of champions."

The Belmont was founded in 1867, the Preakness in 1873, and the Kentucky Derby in 1875, so it's been since 1875 that the achievement has been possible. Winning 2 of the 3 had happened 5 times:

* In 1877, Cloverbrook won the Preakness and the Belmont, but Baden-Baden won the Derby.

* In 1878, Duke of Magenta won the Preakness and the Belmont, but Day Star won the Derby.

* In 1880, Grenada won the Preakness and the Belmont, but Fonso won the Derby.

* In 1881, Saunterer won the Preakness and the Belmont, but Hindoo won the Derby.

* In 1895, Belmar won the Preakness and the Belmont, but Halma won the Derby.

Sir Barton was a chestnut colt, foaled on April 26, 1916 in Kentucky. One of his grandfathers was Isinglass, which, in 1893, had won the English version of the Triple Crown: The 2,000 Guineas Stakes, 1 mile, at Newmarket Racecourse in Newmarket, Suffolk, East Anglia; The Derby, a.k.a. the Epsom Derby, 1 mile 4 furlongs and 10 yards, at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Epsom, Surrey; and the St Leger Stakes, 1 mile 6 furlongs and 132 yards, at Town Moor in Doncaster, Yorkshire.

Sir Barton ran only 5 races as a 2-year-old, and didn't win any of them, although he finished 2nd in his last. His 1st race as a 3-year-old was the Kentucky Derby, on May 10, 1919, with Johnny Loftus, a 24-year-old Chicagoan, aboard. He led the race from start to finish, and won by 5 lengths. The Preakness Stakes would be only 4 days later, on May 14, rather than the modern 2-week difference. (This may have been a reason why no horse had ever won both in the same year -- until now.) Again, he led the whole way, and won by 4 lengths.

In the modern era, letting a horse race in the 2 weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, or in the 3 weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont, would be considered lunacy, too great a risk to the horse. But Sir Barton was run in the Withers Stakes, a 1-mile race at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, and he won it. (The Withers is still run at Aqueduct, but has been lengthened to a mile and 1/16th.)

The Belmont was on June 11. At the time, it was shorter than now: 1 and 3/8ths miles. He still managed to win it. That was 4 wins, including all 3 Triple Crown races, in 32 days. That has never been matched.

It took a while for the Triple Crown to become a big deal: Man o' War, considered the greatest racehorse of all time when he ran in 1920, and while he won both the Preakness and the Belmont, his owner thought it was too soon too risk running him in the Derby. (Man o' War ran 21 races, and won 20. The horse that beat him was named Upset, but the term "upset" for an unexpected win in sport was already in common use, so it wasn't named after the horse.)

The Triple Crown was won again by Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral in 1937, Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946, and Citation in 1948. Citation, in particular, had been so dominant, that when racing fans were asked to name the greatest thoroughbred of all time, he was the 1st one to seriously challenge Man o' War for the title.

From 1949 to 1972, there were 7 horses that won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont: Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Northern Dancer in 1964, Kauai King in 1966, Forward Pass in 1968, Majestic Prince in 1969, and Cañonero II in 1971. But the 1970s saw 3 horses take all 3: Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, and Affirmed in 1978. There was another long drought, before American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015, and Justify did it in 2018.

In 1920, Sir Barton ran 12 races, winning 5. On October 12, a match race was set between him and Man o' War at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit. Kenilworth had a hard surface, harder than Sir Barton was used to, and Man o' War beat him by 7 lengths.

Sir Barton was retired to stud at a farm in Berryville, Virginia, and lived until October 30, 1937, at age 20. Loftus lived until 1976, age 80.

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June 11, 1919 was a Wednesday. This would seem odd to modern readers, who are used to the Triple Crown races being held on Saturdays. These baseball games were played on that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-0 at the Polo Grounds. Jack Quinn pitched a 5-hit shutout. He would still be with the Yankees to help them win their 1st American League Pennant in 1921, although he was traded after the season. He would finally pitch on a World Series winner in 1929 -- at the age of 46. And he threw his last major league pitch on July 7, 1933, 6 days after his 50th birthday. He went 247-218 over his career.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Redland Field (later Crosley Field) in Cincinnati.

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known while they were managed by Wilbert Robinson from 1914 to 1931) lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Shoeless Joe Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Claude "Lefty" Williams pitched a 6-hit shutout, beating Carl Mays. By the end of September 1920, each of those men's reputations would be ruined. Babe Ruth did not appear in the game. His reputation would be just fine.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. George Sisler went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at American League Park (later Griffith Stadium) in Washington. Tris Speaker went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at Weeghman Park (later Wrigley Field) in Chicago.

* And the Boston Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at Robison Field in St. Louis.