June 1, 1946: Assault Takes The Triple Crown

     On June 1, 1946, ridden by jockey Warren Mehrtens, Assault became the seventh horse to claim horse racing's most coveted prize, The Triple Crown, when he roared to a three-length victory at the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York. The horse known as "The Club Footed Comet" due to an injury that caused his foot to be deformed, and caused him to limp. The amazing thing about Assault was that once he reached a full gallop there were no signs of the old injury hampering him. In fact, he proved that he would go down in history as one of the great horses as he ran his way into the history books by claiming the Triple Crown. Assault dominated at the Kentucky Derby with an eight-length victory, then pulled off a neck length victory in the Preakness by holding off Lord Boswell. The close race led to the oddsmakers turning to Lord Boswell as the favorite. However, Assault was destined to make history, and that he did by working his way through the field before he ran his ran into the history books. Since that day four more horses have won The Triple Crown, and each of them are considered legends of their sport.