A Triple Crown, again

No horse had won the Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont since Affirmed in 1978. A graveyard of near-misses sat in the Belmont stretch. In 2015 American Pharoah, trained by Bob Baffert, ridden by Victor Espinoza, does it. The crowd sound is a sport remembering itself.

Racing’s American audience had thinned. A Triple Crown is the one story that still makes casual fans lean in. Secretariat remains the myth. This is the proof the myth can happen again.

Later scandals will follow the trainer. The afternoon in Elmont is still a horse, a gap, and a drought that finally broke.