What would a 2025 Belmont Stakes win mean for Journalism’s legacy?

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Ten years ago this Friday, 90,000 people rose to their feet and exhaled in catharsis. Even in the shadows of a city that knows how to celebrate big moments, the roar that rose from Long Island on June 6, 2015, rivaled anything a sports fan could conjure. As American Pharoah came around the final turn and bore down on the Belmont Stakes finish line, disbelief gave way to stupor. And when 37 years of Triple Crown futility finally and officially evaporated, the cheers for Pharoah somehow grew louder, the stupor turning into awe for the colt’s incredible triumph.

When, just three years later, Justify matched American Pharoah’s efforts to win his own Triple Crown, it felt like horse racing was entering a golden age.

Instead, not only has the Triple Crown entered yet another dry spell, but no horse has won even two legs of the famed horse-racing gauntlet. Even more, of the 109 horses who have entered the Kentucky Derby since 2019, only two — War of Will in 2019 and Mystik Dan, last year’s Derby winner — went on to race in both the Preakness and the Belmont.

Which leads us to the present day, and a horse named Journalism. The bay colt’s commitment to all three legs of the Triple Crown defies convention, and as he preps to load into the starting gate for the Belmont on Saturday, he’s chasing his own little slice of history. Despite a messy start at the Derby and a harrowing ride down the stretch in the Preakness, Journalism finished second in Louisville and won in Baltimore.

Were he to win on Saturday at the Belmont, he would be the first horse aside from Pharoah and Justify in 20 years (Afleet Alex did it in 2005) to win two and come close to winning all three Triple Crown contests. He’d also be the first to capture two wins and a place since the beloved Smarty Jones in 2004. (Smarty did it in reverse order, winning the Derby and Preakness before finishing second by a heartbreaking length at the Belmont). Only one horse since has even come close. In the mashed-up COVID season, Authentic won the Derby (run in September) and took second in the Preakness (run in October), but he did not run in the June Belmont.

“If [Journalism] were to win, it would confirm the suspicions that this is truly a special horse,” says David Grening, the New York correspondent for the Daily Racing Form. “To run in all three is hard enough; to run well is truly rare.”

Special, however, lives a hair off the edge of great, and in any sport, greatness is the goal. In horse racing, greatness is defined by a three-race stretch run over a five-week period. So what, then, would be Journalism’s legacy were he to go two for three in the Big Three? The answer, like a lot of things in horse racing, is complicated.

The way he has run to date certainly shows a fierceness that is nothing shy of extraordinary. At the Derby, Bob Baffert’s front-running Citizen Bull took a hard right to get clear of the rail from the one hole. That caused what could be best described as a horse bottleneck at the start of the race, forcing Journalism to come from much farther back than his trainer, Michael McCarthy, would have liked.

“Because of that, he was 10th and out of position, and in horse racing, position is everything,” says longtime horse racing writer Dick Jerardi. “With that kind of field, the rider has to go sooner than he wants, and out of the final turn, he was only a length ahead of Sovereignty, and that brought the best closer into the race.” True to form, Sovereignty closed with gusto to beat Journalism by 1 1/2 lengths.

Then at the Preakness, Umberto Rispoli kept Journalism on the rail to save some ground, but that also put the horse behind a wall of other horses. At the top of the stretch, the jockey somehow squeezed a 1,000-pound animal through the eye of a needle. Journalism bullied his way between Clever Again and Goal Oriented to find daylight and win. Clever Again’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, less than thrilled with the contact, said Rispoli rode the Preakness favorite “like a rented mule.”

“The bravery he showed going through that hole, whether you want to credit the jockey or the horse — that colt is tough,” says Ken McPeek, who trained Mystik Dan through three Triple Crown races. “No question he is some kind of tough. And he’s fearless, which is obviously a great thing.”

In so many ways, Journalism is (or at least could be) just getting started. He is just 3 years old, and the Belmont will be his eighth start. To date, his worst finish came in his debut; he crossed third. Despite the opinions of the general public, whose interest peters out post-Belmont, his legacy may not be finalized at Saratoga, where the Belmont Stakes will be run this weekend while its namesake track completes renovations.

There is recent precedent for a great horse earning his stripes post-Triple Crown. In 2007, Curlin finished third in the Derby, won the Preakness and lost by a head to the filly Rags to Riches in the Belmont. Impressive but not great by Triple Crown standards. Yet Curlin then went on to place third in the Haskell that August, win the Jockey Club Gold Cup and win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, two races that included older horses. At the end of the year, he was named Horse of the Year.

He repeated the feat in 2008, winning Horse of the Year again before retiring as the highest North American money-winner at the time, with $10.5 million to show for his efforts.

But Journalism, a son of Curlin, would be an odds-defier were he to keep racing and keep winning. Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex never raced after the Triple Crown season, both done in by injuries. Justify retired immediately after the Belmont, his entire racing career lasting a whopping 118 days. American Pharoah went on to win the Haskell, take second at the Travers and win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, cementing his legacy before retiring for a lucrative breeding fee.

“Going 2-1-1 would make him special, but what he could do afterwards really elevates where he could measure up,” says Grening. “To me, what can really determine this horse’s legacy is what he does after the Triple Crown.”

Though they are well aware of the rare company Journalism could join, those associated with the horse, of course, are not terribly interested in talking legacy or what’s next.

“Needless to say, it would be an enormous honor,” says Aron Wellman, one of the majority owners. “That said, we’re not taking anything for granted or allowing ourselves to get too far out in front of ourselves.’’

With good reason. While only an eight-horse field, the Belmont includes some legit contenders, top among them Derby-winner Sovereignty. McPeek, for one, is a Sovereignty fan and has been since Louisville.

“I thought he was one of the easiest selections or wagers for the Derby that I’ve ever seen in my life,” McPeek says. He likes Bill Mott’s horse even more now, what with the extra rest he’s received by not running in the Preakness, and he’s running at the same Derby distance at which he’s already won. Another contender horse people are keeping an eye on is Baeza, who finished third in the Derby.

For now at least, the line says that Journalism will go off as the favorite. Just as he did in the Derby. Just as he did in the Preakness.

Whether a win will be good enough to cement his greatness is up for debate.

“But it would be great for the game,” Jerardi says. “You don’t have to sit out the Preakness. You can still do it. The really good ones, they can do it. That’s really what it comes down to. If you have a good enough horse, it’s doable. He’s good enough.’’

(Photo by Rob Carr / Getty Images)

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