big brown

By going wire-to-wire to win the Belmont Saturday, American Pharoah ended one of the most-famous dry spells in sports.

The Triple Crown trail ends with the Belmont Stakes, and it's finished in heartbreak for 13 horses whose Triple tries were foiled since 1979.

Two questions have hovered over American Pharoah's preparations for the Belmont Stakes: Can he triumph where 13 others have failed and become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978? If he does it, would his achievement lift a sport that has lost much of its stature over the last four decades?

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert continues to see all the right signs from his Triple Crown contender American Pharoah, who took his first gallop over the track at Belmont Park on Thursday morning. "When he finally came down the stretch, he was moving so fluidly, like he usually does," Baffert said. "So it was a very positive gallop. It looks like he's moving along just like he always moves along. It was very comforting to see that. You can tell he still has his energy."

What mainstream attention horse racing garners is overwhelmingly focused on the Triple Crown. Is it all too much? Are we obsessed with the Triple Crown to the detriment of a sport desperate to attract attention the rest of the year?

For the past 37 years, Belmont Park has been where horse racing¿s grandest dreams have gone to die.

Morning-line long-shot Tale of Verve charged down a muddy homestretch past a trio of Kentucky Derby contenders to take second, seven lengths behind Triple Crown aspirant American Pharoah, in his first stakes race.

In the end, California Chrome could not outrun recent history.

California Chrome can win the Triple Crown at Saturday's Belmont Stakes, but even if he does, it won't dramatically improve the health of the horse racing industry, experts say.

The five greatest obstacles to California Chrome completing his Triple Crown quest in the Belmont Stakes.

California Chrome's trainer, Art Sherman, raised the rather startling possibility that his horse might not run in the Belmont Stakes because of New York rules barring a nasal adhesive strip the colt has used throughout his six-race winning streak.

Ticket sales for the 139th Preakness Stakes on Saturday are running a couple percentage points ahead of last year, the fourth largest turnout in the history of the race, but the president of the Maryland Jockey Club sees the possibility of a record crowd.

Trainer Art Sherman is saddling California Chrome, the favorite in Saturday's 140th Kentucky Derby.

More Than a Cruise stormed from last to first to win the $100,000 Conniver Stakes for Maryland-bred and/or Maryland-sired fillies and mares, the co-feature on Saturday's program at Laurel Park.

Preakness results show how difficult winning Triple Crown has become

Triple Crown is horse racing's elusive milestone and it will have to wait another year

There's a reason Shug McGaughey has remained unshackled by concern leading up to the Preakness: Orb.

Top local entrant Walkwithapurpose scratches after bruising foot in Thursday morning gallop

Orb's path to the finish line in the second leg of the Triple Crown remains uncrowded. Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, dropped from contention for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness 2013.

Todd Pletcher knew there were rumors. He even figured some of them impugned his horses. When you're one of the winningest trainers in the game who just happens to condition a quarter of the Kentucky Derby field, that, he said, "is part of the deal."

Orb, Verrazano appear likely to be made favorites after Wednesday night draw

Twenty horses should race for the chance to win the Kentucky Derby and chase just the 12th Triple Crown of all time

Horses seeking a spot in the Kentucky Derby must earn points through a new system

Even without I'll Have Another going for the last leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes did OK in the ratings for NBC, drawing an overnight audience 13 percent larger than last year's and 74 percent above 2010.

Can I'll Have Another win the Triple Crown? Opinions are mixed. The colt, trying to accomplish the feat for the first time since 1978, has both supporters and doubters.

Preakness winner I'll Have Another has put himself in position to become the 12th Triple Crown winner. He'll be the 12th horse to have that chance since Affirmed won all three races in 1978.

In the 2012 Preakness Stakes, I'll Have Another held off Bodemeister for the win. The Kentucky Derby winner will have a shot at the Triple Crown at Belmont.

Bugler Sam Grossman pops the question to his girlfriend in between races at Preakness 2012

Rick Dutrow knows there's a difference coming into Preakness with a horse that has won the Kentucky Derby and one that didn't even make it to the starting gate at Churchill Downs.

I'll Have Another sticking to winning regimen Preakness 2012

Hansen does not need to try to be noticed. The nearly all-white colt always stands out among his peers. Yet on Thursday morning, the Breeders' Cup juvenile champion did all he could to draw the attention of a robust crowd on his first day this week at Churchill Downs before the 2012 Kentucky Derby.

Rick Dutrow's possible 10-year ban is viewed as a positive by much of the horse racing industry. Many see the major penalties the trainer is facing for rules violations as long overdue.