Horse racing-Nyquist bids to keep Triple Crown trophy out of storage

By Lindsey Buhrmann May 20 (Reuters) - For 37 years, there were not a lot of questions of what to do with the Triple Crown trophy. Back into storage it would go, most recently displayed at the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, as year after year no single thoroughbred could win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. That is until last year when American Pharoah became the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to accomplish the feat. If Nyquist, winner of the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, triumphs at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, and then the Belmont Stakes on June 11, he will become the 13th horse to clinch the Triple Crown. Not only will his connections share more than $3.3 million in winnings; his owners will come home with an array of gold and silver awards. According to Allan Carter, a historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, trophies represent a horse's skill. "(Trophies won show us) that they were that good," Carter says. "I think the trophy is worth a lot more to the owners than the monetary value." At Saturday's Preakness, the winning horse and its connections will get their photo taken beside the Woodlawn Vase, considered to be the most valuable trophy in American sports. In 1983, the 34-inch silver trophy created in 1860 by Tiffany & Co. was assessed at $1 million. The Woodlawn Vase won't be going home with the owners, though. After the race it is returned to The Baltimore Museum of Art, and the winning owners receive a smaller silver replica valued at around $30,000, according to Preakness representatives. The "Run for the Roses" could also be called a "Gold Rush", as the owners of the Kentucky Derby winner are awarded a 22-inch gold trophy, primarily 14-karat but topped by an 18-karat gold horse and rider. "The Kentucky Derby trophy is believed to be the only solid gold trophy that is annually awarded to the winner of a major American sporting event," said Darren Rogers, Churchill Downs' senior director of Communications and Media Services. "We view the Kentucky Derby trophy as 'priceless' as it's something you cannot buy. There's only one way to get it and that's by owning the Kentucky Derby winner on the first Saturday in May." Should Nyquist win the Preakness, two trophies will be on display at the Belmont Stakes -- the August Belmont Memorial Cup, as well as a silver, triangular trophy for becoming a Triple Crown winner. The Triple Crown is the biggest prize in horse racing in the United States," explained historian Carter. "It's proof that you actually won that race." Whichever horse wins the Belmont Stakes, its owner will go home with the 18-inch silver Tiffany & Co. August Belmont Memorial Cup, which features statuettes of significant thoroughbreds. "It stays with (the winning horse's owner) for a year until the next Belmont owner is crowned," says Alyssa Salig, communications coordinator for The New York Racing Association. (Editing by Andrew Both)