SET your alarms now – you need to be in front of a television at 11.45pm next Saturday, June 6th. That’s when American Pharoah will aim to do what no three-year-old thoroughbred has done since 1978 by winning the Belmont Stakes and completing the US Triple Crown.

The Triple Crown has been completed just 11 times in almost 100 years. Here we look back at the last five horses to achieve the feat.

1978 - AFFIRMED

Affirmed was known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met 10 times, including in all three Triple Crown races. They topped the betting market for the 10-furlong Kentucky Derby where Affirmed won by a length and a half from his fast-finishing rival. In the Preakness the winning margin was down to a neck and many observers felt Alydar’s stamina would help him gain revenge in the Belmont. For more than six furlongs, the colts raced neck and neck, pulling away from the rest of the field. Alydar led narrowly halfway down the home straight but then Affirmed’s jockey Steve Cauthen switched the whip to his left hand, something he had never done before in his eight rides on Affirmed. Cauthen’s mount won by a nose. Affirmed’s trainer Laz Barrera once said: “Affirmed is greater than Secretariat, or any Triple Crown winner, because only Affirmed had to face Alydar.”

1977 – SEATTLE SLEW

A New York favourite, Seattle Slew used to tip-toe on to the track before his races, a trait that racegoers described as his ‘war dance’. He was the 1/2 favourite for the Kentucky Derby and won by a length and three-quarters. A front-runner Seattle Slew was drawn into a speed duel with Cormorant in the Preakness but he outstayed his rival to win by a length and a half. The Belmont was much easier and he won by four lengths, becoming the first Triple Crown winner to finish the series undefeated. Seattle Slew’s dam My Charmer went on to produce two colts who were trained by Vincent O’Brien – the 2000 Guineas winner Lomond and the disappointing Seattle Dancer.

1973 – SECRETARIAT

Regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time, Secretariat set track records in all three legs of the Triple Crown – records that still stand today. A large chesnut colt, he was nicknamed ‘Big Red’ and did most of his racing in New York. He claimed the Kentucky Derby by two and a half lengths, famously running each quarter mile faster than the one before it. He was the first horse to break the two-minute barrier for the Derby (1m 59.4secs) and again bust the clock in the Preakness (though this is disputed as the actual clock did malfunction!). Back to New York for the Belmont, Secretariat put on a show. As the 1/10 favourite opened up, the commentator screamed: “Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine!” The official winning distance was 31 lengths.

1948 – CITATION

Only three horses in American racing have won 16 consecutive stakes races – Zenyatta, Cigar and Citation. Owned and bred by Calumet Farm, Citation had a largely European pedigree and he raced nine times as a two-year-old. He won the Derby by almost four lengths and the Preakness by five and a half. Citation even fitted in another win before the Belmont which he won comfortably.

1946 – ASSAULT

Bred and raised on a Texas cattle farm, Assault was plagued with injuries and illnesses from birth. As a youngster, he stepped on what is believed to have been a surveyor’s stake, driving it through his front right hoof. The hoof was permanently deformed, and the colt developed a limp to accommodate the odd shape of his foot. However, the ‘Club-footed Comet’, as he was later dubbed, showed no signs of abnormality when he was at a full gallop. He won the Derby by a then-record eight lengths, just held on in the Preakness by a neck and then came from behind to win the Belmont by three lengths.