Addition of Cyber Secret Lifts Triple Crown Nominee Total to 398

Feb 07, 2012

The roster of 3-year-old Thoroughbreds nominated to compete in the classic races of the American Triple Crown has grown by one with the addition of Charles J Cella’s Cyber Secret, who was omitted from the initial roster of 397 early nominations because of a clerical error.

This year’s 398^th nominee is a Kentucky-bred son of Broken Vow trained by Lynn Whiting, who scored his only victory in a Triple Crown race with W.C. Partee’s Lil E. Tee in the 1992 Kentucky Derby (Grade I).  Cyber Secret collected his second win in four career starts in a 5 ¼-length victory in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 4.  He started his career with trainer Chad Brown, but was transferred to Whiting when the colt was purchased privately by Cella after a seventh-place run behind WinStar Farm’s unbeaten Triple Crown nominee Gemologist in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (GII) on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs.

Officials at Churchill Downs said information on Cyber Secret was not added to the list of early nominees after a Triple Crown representative took the nomination at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. prior to the close of the early nominations for the three-race series.  Stewards at the Louisville track approved the addition of the colt’s name to the list of early nominees, which was released to the public on Saturday, Feb. 4.

This year’s early nomination period, during which each nomination was accompanied by a $600 fee, closed on Saturday, Jan. 21. A late period for nominations – which requires each nomination to be accompanied by a $6,000 fee – will conclude on Saturday, March 24.

The 2012 Triple Crown series begins on Saturday, May 5 with the $2 million-guaranteed 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.  The second jewel of the Triple Crown is the 137^th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI), which will be run on Saturday, May 19, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.  The American classic series concludes with the 144^th running of the Belmont Stakes (GI) on Saturday, June 9 at New York’s Belmont Park.

All three Triple Crown races will be televised by NBC Sports and are scheduled to be broadcast on radio by the Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN).

The new early nomination total for the 2012 Triple Crown races is a 9.3 percent increase over the 364 early nominees for the three-race classic series a year ago.  The roster of 2012 early Triple Crown nominees is the largest since 2009, when 412 3-year-olds were made eligible during the early period.

Brisnet is providing free online past performances of all the 2012 Triple Crown nominees in PDF format at http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/TC12noms.pdf.