JERSEY CITY, N.J.-- Here are at a few facts about horse racing's elusive dream.

The Belmont Stakes began in 1867. The Preakness Stakes came to fruition in 1873, followed by the Kentucky Derby two years later.

The first time all three races were run in the same calendar year was 1875. The Preakness was not contested for a three-year period beginning in 1891 and the Belmont was not run in 1911, 1912 and 1917. So 2001 is the 121st instance which all three jewels were presented in the same year.

Let's start with the obvious as well as the most important: There have been 11 Triple Crown winners, beginning with Sir Barton in 1919 and ending with Affirmed in 1978.

Affirmed's three wins after Seattle Slew a year earlier provided us with the only back-to-back Triple Crown winners in racing history.

The 1940s produced the most Triple Crown champs with four. But following Citation's 1948 sweep, no horse would duplicate the feat for 25 years -- the sports' longest drought -- until Secretariat in 1973. We are in the midst of the second-longest dormant streak at 22 years.

The other horses who staked their claim to greatness in the 1940s were Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943 and Assault three years later.

The 1930s and the 1970s each generated a trio of Triple Crown champs.

Gallant Fox tried to help Americans put the stock market collapse behind them by opening the 1930s with a Triple Crown.

Five years later, Omaha duplicated his sire's feat, making Gallant Fox to only Triple Crown winner to father one. War Admiral ran the table in 1937.

There was a chance for three consecutive Triple Crown winners in the 1930s. In 1936, Bold Venture captured the Derby and the Preakness but watched from the sidelines as Granville took the Belmont. Burgoo King also went this route in 1932, sitting out the Belmont with a pair of Triple Crown wins under his belt.

The 1970s could easily have had two more Triple Crown winners.

In 1971, Canonero II grabbed the first two jewels but fell to Pass Catcher in the Belmont. Spectacular Bid was foiled in his bid by Costal to close the decade.

During the current Triple Crown drought, both the 1980s and 1990s saw three instances that a horse came into the Belmont with a shot at immortality.

Pleasant Colony began the run in 1981, finishing third to Summing. Alysheba saw his luck run out as Bet Twice bested him in the 1987 finale and Easy Goer finally caught Sunday Silence in the third of their memorable duels.

Sunday Silence had Easy Goer's number in their first two meetings and their spine-tingling stretch run in the Preakness was voted the decade's most memorable race.

The 1990s ended with three straight years of Derby and Preakness glory followed by Belmont failure.

Silver Charm began the run by placing to Touch Gold in the 1997 Belmont. A year later, another Bob Baffert horse, Real Quiet, lost to Victory Gallop in a photo finish.

The decade closed as 1999 Derby and Preakness champ Charismatic lost his charisma to Lemon Drop Kid in the Belmont.

The 1960s had five horses fall short after winning the first two.

In 1961, Carryback finished seventh to Sherluck. The near misses continued in 1964 as Northern Dancer took third to Quadrangle. Two years later, Kauai King managed only a fourth-place finish against Amberoid. Forward Pass and Majestic Prince placed to Stage Door Johnny and Arts and Letters in 1968 and 1969, respectively.

All tolled, there have been 15 instances where the grueling Belmont has destroyed Triple Crown dreams, not including the two seasons in which Burgoo King and Bold Venture failed to compete.

There have been 66 instances that a different victor reached the winner's circle in each of the three races. But since 1930 there have been three different winners of the events only 24 times (33 percent). Prior to that, it happened 40 times in 49 chances (81 percent).

Since 1930, there has never been a stretch of more than two years that three different horses emerged victorious. Before that, there were stretches of six and 10 years in which a different horse captured the races. From 1896 to 1918, no horse won more than one Triple Crown race in a single season.

In addition to the 17 winners of the first two races, 26 other horses have managed to win any two of the jewels. One horse has won the final two events 16 times.

It was not until Sir Barton in 1919 that a horse won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the same year.