Almost Only Counts In Horseshoes And Hand Grenades.

In honor of this year's triple crown hopeful, I am going to spend the next two weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes reviewing the recent near misses: those that have won the first two and broken our hearts at Belmont since Affirmed won in 1978. I am going to research and review the possible reasons for loss at Belmont while conducting a series of biographies of those that were great, but not good enough, for whatever reason on Belmont day. It truly does, and should take a special horse. But a triple crown win also requires the stars to align just right: the right horse, the right timing, the right circumstances, distances, and track surfaces, and a bit of just plain dumb luck. Anything can happen in this sport!