Horse Racing: They Made the Stakes Too Long

It happens every couple of years. Some passing-good thoroughbred manages to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and everybody figures that the sport of kings is due for another coronation. But the last horse to win U.S. racing's Triple Crown was Citation in 1948—and the less said the better about his attempts to prolong the royal line at stud. Pretenders still keep popping up: Tim Tarn in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Northern Dancer in 1964. What does them all in is the

Belmont Stakes, the last of the Triple Crown races and—at 11 mi.—the longest. That is...