Page 56 - August 2021

T he Elusive
ALL AMERICAN TRIPLE CROWN
First All American Triple Crown Winner
Each spring Ruidoso Downs Race Track draws owners, trainers, jockeys, breeders and spectators to
this famous mountain track in New Mexico. They all come to the moun- tain bringing the anticipation and the excitement as to who will be the big winners for the year. Three of the major prizes are the million-dollar futurities: the Ruidoso Futurity-G1, the Rainbow Futurity-G1 and
the All American Futurity-G1. These three races represent the All American Triple Crown, or as it used to be called, the Tres Corona.
The biggest, most rewarding prize at the end of the summer is the $3 million All American Futurity. The horsemen involved in competing
in these three races will set a path
to reach the goal of winning this
by Larry Thornton
Rainbow Futurity and then to the All American Futurity. The horse that competes in all three races and wins all three is the All American Triple Crown winner. The All American Triple Crown winner has proven to be very elusive as only one horse has ever won this great title.
The initial start toward the Triple Crown started in 1959 with Galobar winning the first All American Futurity. Then in 1960 the Kansas Futurity was moved to Ruidoso Downs from Raton, New Mexico, setting up the opportunity to win the two races at the same track. That was the year that Tonto Bars Hank won both the Kansas Futurity and the All American Futurity. The Rainbow Futurity was added as the middle jewel in 1964. That was the year that Tonto Parr won the Kansas Futurity, Double Queen won the Rainbow Futurity and Decketta won the All American Futurity.
Counting the 1964 inaugural running of the three races, we have had a total of 168 runnings
SPECIAL EFFORT great race. That path will often go of the three races with 170 horses going to the through the Ruidoso Futurity and the winner’s circle. The extra winners came in 2006
54 SPEEDHORSE August 2021