Barry Irwin, now the head of Team Valor International, was entering his teenage years in Southern California when Swaps burst onto the scene in 1955.
“He just really excited me and caught my imagination,” Irwin recalled.
Irwin was hardly alone. Swaps’ popularity became so enormous that Union 76 gas stations began distributing posters of him. “I kept pushing my father to get gas there so I could get more pictures,” Irwin said.
With a superstar young jockey, dueling rivals, and electrifying finishes, the 1978 Triple Crown stands out among the other 12 on the strength of the sheer thrills and chills that Affirmed and Alydar brought each time they met on the racetrack.
Editor’s note: This feature has been updated to reflect Donna Barton Brothers’ announcement that she would retire from NBC Sports, where she has covered Triple Crown races for the past 26 years, following the 2026 Preakness Stakes.
Donna Barton Brothers did not set out to follow the path blazed by her mother, Patti, by becoming a jockey. And yet she rode from 1987-98 and ranked as the second-leading money earner of all time among women when she retired.
The inspiring story of California Chrome that feels more like a fairy tale opened when first-time breeders Steve Coburn and Perry Martin purchased Love the Chase for $8,000. The mare was slightly built and not much to behold, especially when she ran. She had won once in six career starts.
A groom thought so little of their decision to buy Love the Chase that he was overheard ridiculing it as a “dumb ass” move. Their stable name – Dumb Ass Partners – was born.
