What is The Triple Crown in Horse Racing?

The Triple Crown of horse racing is a prestigious achievement in the sport that refers to winning three specific major races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds within the same season. Though the Triple Crown is not featured on racecards, any horse attempting to complete this feat. There are different versions of the Triple Crown depending on the country, but the most famous one is in the United States.

Known for making the names of icons like Secretariat, the Triple Crown cements the horse's name in the legacy of the sport, and if you watch horse racing, the Triple Crown is famous for its prestigious nature. Here, we will explore what the Triple Crown is, its history, and why it has become so notable in horse racing.

The US Triple Crown is the most well-known throughout horse racing, and it involves winning all three of the following races:

Kentucky Derby:

Preakness Stakes:

Belmont Stakes:

The US Triple Crown is incredibly rare, with only 13 horses having won it in the history of the sport, with icons such as Secretariat winning it with the fastest times in all three races in 1973. The most recent winner to date is Justify in 2018.

Winning the Triple Crown is tough because:

In Britain, the Triple Crown is known to be a different set of races, with the three important events being:

The British Triple Crown is known to be challenging due to the distances, as they are more demanding. As modern breeders tend to favour speed over stamina, this makes it difficult for horses. Owners will often skip St Leger to preserve stud value, which makes Triple Crown bids in Great Britain rare.

It’s even rarer than in the U.S. — the last British Triple Crown winner was Nijinsky in 1970.

Ireland also has its own Triple Crown for colts, which includes:

Fewer horses attempt all three due to the difficulty and modern breeding priorities.

Not as notable as some of the other Triple Crown events, the French Triple Crown consists of:

As winning the Triple Crown is quite rare, it is something that not many horses have been able to accomplish, meaning if you win the Triple Crown, you will gain:

Though the US Triple Crown is the most notable, winning any of the Triple Crowns from around the world is an incredibly impressive feat, as it continues to represent everything great about the sport.

If you are interested in the sport, Racing TV is the place to be when it comes to learning more, with the site being full of racecards of all the upcoming action. For those who place bets on the sport, Racing TV offers a library full of different horse racing free bets, each being available at a variety of bookmakers.