At the most recent public meeting of the New York Racing Association Reorganization Board, the largely state-appointed trustees did not ask a single question about the cancelation of the traditional Saratoga open house, the presence of a new temporary chairman at the head of the table, or any long-term plans for the future of racing in New York. The only question that seemed to animate the group was the one on many lips as Saratoga opened this Friday: Will American Pharoah race at the Spa? It has been 37 years since we have had the opportunity to pose the question of what happens next for a Triple Crown winner. The last time around in 1978, Affirmed made his next two starts after winning the Crown in Saratoga’s Jim Dandy and Travers stakes, finishing first in both races but being placed second in the latter for interfering with Alydar. Affirmed was the only Triple Crown winner to have run in the Travers since Whirlaway in 1941. Whirlaway remains the only horse to have won both a Triple Crown and the Travers, but there is a rich history of Crown winners racing at Saratoga before and after their classic sweeps. Eight of the 11 Triple Crown winners prior to American Pharoah (all but Count Fleet, Assault, and Citation) raced at Saratoga, combining to win 16 of their 30 starts over the track. Before you start in with the “Graveyard of Champions” twaddle because Triple Crown winners have lost a combined 13 races at Saratoga, that 16-for-30 record actually is a lot better than it looks. It quickly improves to 16 for 22 if you simply ignore the 0-for-4 Saratoga juvenile campaigns of both Sir Barton in 1918 and Omaha in 1934. In fact, if you eliminate all the 2-year-old racing from the tally, horses who raced at Saratoga after winning their Triple Crowns are a shinier 9 for 12. The only three losses were Affirmed’s via disqualification in 1978, Secretariat’s defeat in the 1973 Whitney, and the most famous upset in Travers history – when Jim Dandy beat Gallant Fox by eight lengths over a heavy track in 1930. The best Saratoga performance by a Triple Crown winner? That would be War Admiral, who did not run in the 1937 Travers but returned as a 4-year-old and won four Saratoga stakes in 32 days (the Wilson, Saratoga Handicap, Whitney, and Saratoga Cup). That accounts for four of the nine Saratoga victories by horses after they became Triple Crown winners. The others were Gallant Fox in the 1930 Saratoga Cup, Whirlaway’s triumphs in the 1941 Saranac and Travers, Affirmed’s Jim Dandy, and, finally, the answer to the easiest bet you will cash this summer. Ask almost anyone who was the last Triple Crown winner to win a race at Saratoga, and you will be told it was Affirmed, but the correct answer is Seattle Slew, who won a 1978 allowance race eight days after Affirmed’s Jim Dandy. One Triple Crown winner’s earlier experiences at Saratoga bear repeating for their sheer awfulness. The 2-year-old performances by Sir Barton in 1918 did not exactly make him the winter-book favorite for the 1919 classics: He was ninth, beaten 15 1/2 lengths, in the Flash; ninth, beaten 16, in the U.S. Hotel; seventh, beaten 19, in the Sanford; and distanced while finishing 16th in the Hopeful. Eight months later, he scored his first career victory in the Kentucky Derby. So, will a ninth Triple Crown winner race at the Spa? A few weeks ago, it seemed like a bit of a longshot, given trainer Bob Baffert’s loyalty to Del Mar and his generally rough experiences in the Travers, including a last-place finish by Bayern last year. His camp seems to be warming to the idea, however, and an Aug. 29 Travers might offer better spacing than Del Mar’s Aug. 22 Pacific Classic following American Pharoah’s expected return Aug. 2 in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth. NYRA officials were at Del Mar’s opening last week, courting American Pharoah’s connections, and are considering boosting the $1.25 million Travers purse if that helps the courtship. Just as American Pharoah’s Travers status should not obscure the larger issues facing NYRA, it should not be the criterion by which this year’s Saratoga meeting is judged. There are 39 other days of racing, and there are 15 other Grade 1 events that will factor heavily into deciding every Eclipse Award except the 3-year-old and Horse of the Year titles that American Pharoah already has sewn up. There’s a lot more to Saratoga and to this year in racing than American Pharoah. Still, after 37 years, it would be pretty sweet to see a Triple Crown winner race at Saratoga again.