The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing Victor Espinoza riding American Pharoah at the Kentucky Derby On June 6th, 2015, American Pharoah (that’s the horse’s name) won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred horse racing. The Triple Crown consists of three races; the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont. A horse that could win all three races is very, very unusual. All three races are for 3-year old thoroughbreds, run on dirt tracks, and require that the horses carry the same weights (colts and geldings carry 126 pounds, fillies carry 121 pounds). The three races, however, are of different lengths. Kentucky derby – 1.25 miles Preakness - 1 and 3/16 miles Belmont Stakes – 1.5 miles 1. Order these three races from the shortest distance to greatest. This a list of all of the Triple Crown winners since the races began. In 2015 it had been a long time since a horse won the Triple Crown. Year Winner 1919 Sir Barton 1930 Gallant Fox 1935 Omaha 1937 War Admiral 1941 Whirlaway 1943 Count Fleet 1946 Assault 1948 Citation 1973 Secretariat 1977 Seattle Slew 1978 Affirmed 2015 American Pharoah 2. How long had it been since one horse won all three races? 3. Calculate the average differences between years that a horse has won all three races. This is a list of the Kentucky Derby winners since the year 2000. The Kentucky Derby race is 1.25 miles long. Time in this chart is in minutes, seconds and then hundredths of a second. Year Winner Jockey Time 2017 Always Dreaming John Valazquez 2:03.59 2016 Nyquist Mario Gutierrez 2:01.31 2015 American Pharoah Victor Espinoza 2:03.02 2014 California Chrome Victor Espinoza 2:03.66 2013 Orb Joel Rosario 2:02.89 2012 I’ll Have Another Mario Gutíerrez 2:01.83 2011 Animal Kingdom John Velazquez 2:02.04 2010 Super Saver Calvin Borel 2:04.45 2009 Mine That Bird Calvin Borel 2:02.66 2008 Big Brown Kent Desormeaux 2:01.82 2007 Street Sense Calvin Borel 2:02.17 2006 Barbaro Edgar Prado 2:01.36 2005 Giacomo Mike E. Smith 2:02.75 2004 Smarty Jones Stewart Elliott 2:04.06 2003 Funny Cide Jose Santos 2:01.19 2002 War Emblem Victor Espinoza 2:01.13 2001 Monarchos Jorge F. Chavez 1:59.97 2000 Fusaichi Pegasus Kent Desormeaux 2:01.00 4. About how fast did American Pharoah run that year? a. In miles per minute? b. In miles per hour 5. What horse ran the fastest time in this chart? 6. Calculate that horse’s miles per hour rate? Saturday, May 20th will be the annual running of the Preakness. The length of this race is 1 and 3/16th miles. 7. How much longer is the Kentucky Derby race than the Preakness? Here are the Preakness winners by year: Year Winner Jockey Time 2016 Exaggerator Ken Desormeaux 1:58.31 2015 American Pharoah Victor Espinoza 1:58.46 2014 California Chrome Victor Espinoza 1:54.84 2013 Oxbow Gary Stevens 1:57.54 2012 I’ll have another Mario Gutierrez 1:55.94 2011 Shackleford Jesus Castanon 1:56.47 2010 Lookin At Lucky Martin Garcia 1:55.47 2009 Rachel Alexandra‡ Calvin Borel 1:55.08 2008 Big Brown Kent Desormeaux 1:54.86 2007 Curlin Robby Albarado 1:53.46 2006 Bernardini Javier Castellano 1:54.65 2005 Afleet Alex Jeremy Rose 1:55.04 2004 Smarty Jones Stewart Elliott 1:55.59 2003 Funny Cide Jose Santos 1:55.61 2002 War Emblem Victor Espinoza 1:56.40 2001 Point Given Gary Stevens 1:55.40 2000 Red Bullet Jerry Bailey 1:56.00 8. Find the fastest Preakness winner time and calculate the horse’s average rate in both miles per minute and miles per hour. Finally on June 10th the Belmont Stakes will be run in New York State. This race is 1.5 miles long. Year Winner Jockey Time 2016 Creator Irad Ortiz, Jr 2:28.51 2015 American Pharoah Victor Espinoza 2:26.65 2014 Tonalist Joel Rosario 2:28.52 2013 Palace Malace Mike Smith 2:30.70 2012 Union Rags John Velazquez 2:30:42 2011 Ruler on Ice Jose Valdivia, Jr. 2:30.88 2010 Drosselmeyer Mike Smith 2:31.57 2009 Summer Bird Kent Desormeaux 2:27.54 2008 Da' Tara Alan Garcia 2:29.65 2007 Rags to Riches John Velazquez 2:28.74 2006 Jazil Fernando Jara 2:27.81 2005 Afleet Alex Jeremy Rose 2:28.75 2004 Birdstone Edgar Prado 2:27.50 2003 Empire Maker Jerry Bailey 2:28.26 2002 Sarava Edgar Prado 2:29.71 2001 Point Given Gary Stevens 2:26.80 2000 Commendable Pat Day 2:31.20 9. What’s the fastest rate for the Belmont Stakes race? 10. Now you have found the fastest rate for each of the three Triple Crown events over the past 12 years. Which horse and at which event ran at the fastest rate? Jockeys wear very lightweight attire. Their helmet and safety vest are the only safety equipment that they wear. The average jockey has a light, athletic build, and body weight between 108 to 118 pounds. These three races all require that the combined weight of the jockey and his/her equipment be 121 pounds if the horse is a filly and 126 pounds for a gelding or colt. These are a jockey’s equipment that will be weighed just before the race with the jockey; § a pair of nylon riding pants, only weighs an ounce or two § riding boots § safety vest – mandatory in U.S. – weighs about a pound § silks – owners colors of riding clothes § saddle – 12 oz to 6 pounds – not really sat upon because a jockey is always in a crouched standing position. § weights to add to saddle pockets § whip § several pairs of goggles – to be able to slide down a clean pair as the goggles get muddy 11. About how much does all of this extra stuff weigh (it is okay to express your answer as a range)? 12. If you were a jockey riding a filly and you weighed 110 pounds, how much could your equipment weigh? Two more interesting horseracing measurements are the height of the horse and the length of the track. Horses are measured in Hands (abbreviated “h”). A hand is a unit of 4 inches and horses are measured from the ground to their withers. Withers is the ridge on the horse between his/her shoulder blades (that’s a good place since the horse could raise or lower his head). The decimal place in the horse’s measurement is not what it usually means. A horse that is described as 15.2 h tall is 15 hands plus 2 inches tall. 13. Poe, a Clydesdale from Ontario, Canada is thought to be the tallest horse in the world at 20.2 hands tall. How tall in inches and feet is Poe? 14. If a horse is six feet tall at its withers, then how many hands tall is it? The last strange measurement in horseracing is the length of the track. Tracks are measured in furlongs. A furlong = one eighth of a mile. (Originally a furrow long was the length of a plowed field) 15. In Furlongs, how long are the; a. Kentucky derby? b. Preakness? c. Belmont Stakes? Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Derby http://animal.discovery.com/tv/jockeys/horse-racing/jockeys-101/general-facts.html http://www.equestrianlife.com/videos/watch/206/Overview_of_the_Jockey's_Equipment Brought to you by www.YUMMYMATH.com .