The Legends of the Triple Crown

Starting around the point when January first comes around and every Thoroughbred registered with the Jockey Club in North America ages one year, the whispers of the Triple Crown begin. All registered Thoroughbreds, no matter what day they were born on in the year, officially become a year older on January first of every year.

The Triple Crown is one of the most prized jewels in all of racing. In all of the years that it has been running, only eleven horses have gone on to win all three races of this prestigious crowned jewel. It consists of three races, beginning in Louisville, Kentucky at Churchill Downs. On the first Saturday in May, the top three-year-old colts (and sometimes fillies) load into the starting gates and explode from the metal caged gates to race for a mile and a quarter to win the first jewel of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby. The Derby is called the run for the roses because the winner is draped in red roses upon entering the winner's circle (Watch last year's Kentucky Derby).

The Triple Crown is also called the test of champions because after only two weeks of rest, the winner of the Kentucky Derby will face-off against another tough field of fellow three-year-olds in Baltimore, Maryland at Pimlico Racecourse in the Preakness Stakes. Run over a mile and three-sixteenths, the Preakness was where Barbaro, last year's Kentucky Derby winner, broke down at the start and has since then been operated on multiple times in an effort to save him. In the winner's circle, along with a trophy and a check for the winning connections, a blanket of Black Eyed Susans will be draped over the winning horse. The field for the Preakness consists of horses that either ran in the Derby or have had a longer amount of time to rest and prepare for the race. It is sometimes a strategy to knock off the winners of the Derby after their short rest with a fresher horse. It is a strategy that sometimes will work, but oftentimes it doesn't work best until the final test of the champions.

The Belmont Stakes, the last and longest of the Triple Crown races, is where many horses have either been crowned a Triple Crown winner or put up the greatest races of their careers only to fall short of the greatness so few have achieved. In Elmont, New York at Belmont Racetrack, a typically small field (pending on whether or not the Kentucky Derby winner won the Preakness) will face-off for the white carnation blanket that awaits in the winner's circle. The most dramatic win of all time is without a doubt Secretariat's Belmont and Triple Crown victory.

As stated before, there have only been 11 horses to conquer the Triple Crown, beginning with Sir Barton in 1919 and ending with Affirmed in 1978. But there have been several close calls. The Belmont Stakes can either make or break a dream. Either way, this series is looked upon as one of the biggest moments in a racehorse's career. There are also several jinxes that have developed over the years.

Beginning when a two-year-old colt reaches the winner's circle of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (a race strictly for two-year-old males) the jinxes of the Triple Crown begin to take their toll on the world. Never has the world seen the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the biggest championship race for two-year-old colts and geldings, win the richest single race of their sophomore (three-year-old) year. Also, favorites have not proven to be very successful in the Kentucky Derby, with the last favorite to win the Derby being Smarty Jones in 2004. The last gelding to win the run for the roses was Funny Cide in 2003. (Click here to see all the past Derby winners.)



A series of races have become famous as races that the top three-year-olds in the country (and in the world) compete against each other in. These races have become known as prep races for the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown. These prove as the testing ground to see who is the best of the best. And these races are beginning to approach as the great first Saturday in May begins to become a realized dream or another year of waiting for the owners, trainers and other connections with the top of the three-year-old crop. For further updates on the prep race schedule and news on the Triple Crown, go to Triple Crown Mania, by Bloodhorse.com.


Pictured is Affirmed, on the right, and Alydar, on the left, at the most exciting of the Belmont Stakes finishes in history. The two had a rivalry that spawned from their close finishes in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Affirmed was the last winner of the Triple Crown in 1978.