Triple Crown Events

Updated: 2025

The Triple Crown is the ultimate achievement in horse racing, a fact that holds true no matter which country you visit. Many people are familiar with the American Triple Crown races because of the legendary stars who have achieved the feat (and those who have fallen just short). But in fact, just about every country that hosts horse racing has designated its own trio of events as the test of the greatest native horses.

Great Britain was the first country to call three different races the Triple Crown. It was first achieved when a horse named West Australian was able to win the daunting trio of the 2000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby and the St Leger Stakes in 1853. This captured the public imagination in a way that allowed the concept to spread.

The first Triple Crown winner in the United States occurred in 1919, but the three races that make up the Triple Crown in America weren't really recognized as such until the 1930s. Meanwhile, countries around the world that host thoroughbred horse racing created their own Triple Crown races to join in the excitement.

The common denominator, no matter the country, is that a Triple Crown is supposed to be an extremely difficult task for any horse to overcome. When a horse wins the first two races, the excitement builds for the final leg to see if there will be a new winner to join the other legends at that particular venue. For the owners, trainers, and jockeys associated with Triple Crown winners, the rewards are great, both in terms of money and lasting fame.

Here are just a few of the countries where Triple Crowns have been created, along with some of the characteristics associated with each.

As noted above, Great Britain seems to have been the first country to place special emphasis on a horse that could win three predetermined races in a single year. When West Australian first accomplished this feat, the races involved had been in existence for about half a century. This immediately demonstrated the difficulty of the task.

Great Britain

The Triple Crown races in the United Kingdom are spread out over a longer period of the year, from late spring to late summer, than their American counterparts. But the difficulty is compounded by the fact that the distances for each race are so different. The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a mile, the Derby at Epsom is closer to 1 1/2 miles, and the St Leger Stakes is a whopping 1 7/8 miles.

Since modern Thoroughbreds are usually bred for one distance or another, it is unlikely that any one horse can handle the three races at the same level of ability. Perhaps that's why the British Triple Crown hasn't been captured since 1970, when it was won by the legendary Nijinsky. And before Nijinsky, it hadn't been done since 1935.

In fact, eight of the 15 winners of the British Triple Crown did the trick before 1900. Whether another winner will be produced is hard to say, as many owners are reluctant to put their horses through such an ordeal. With modern breeding fees as lucrative as they are, maintaining a horse's health is incredibly important to the business side of the sport.

Perhaps no other country is as passionate about the Triple Crown of horse racing as the United States. In most years, attendance at the final event, the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, depends on whether one of the horses competing has won the first two events: the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland. Television ratings follow suit.

British Triple Crown Winners

United States

As mentioned above, it wasn't until the 1930s that American racing fans really began to talk about the Triple Crown, even though it was first accomplished in 1919 by a horse named Sir Barton. The timing was good, however, because the 1940s produced some of America's greatest racers, horses like Whirlaway and Citation, who won the three races as three-year-olds.

In 1973, Secretariat, considered by many to be the greatest American racehorse of all time, swept all three races, setting records at each stop. His stunning victory in the Belmont Stakes left fans in awe. To this day, all American Thoroughbreds try to live up to the standard he set.

American Triple Crown racing is also notable for the horses that didn't pass the ultimate test. Superstars like Man o' War and Spectacular Bid came up just one win short of the feat. In fact, the 37-year drought of Triple Crown winners from 1978 to 2015 had many fans wondering if the sport should consider changing the race to make it easier for one horse to win all three.

With the sport's different breeding tactics, it's becoming increasingly rare to see a horse that can handle the grueling three races in just five weeks. Fortunately, American Pharaoh answered the call and became the 12th American Triple Crown winner in 2015. Three years later, Justify comfortably won all three races. Both horses were trained by Bob Baffert.

It should be noted that there is also a trio of races for fillies in the United States that is called the Triple Tiara. This set of races receives far less publicity, and fillies gain more notoriety when they actually run in and win a Triple Crown race. There are competing versions of the Triple Tiara, which also dilutes the impact somewhat.

American Triple Crown Winners

Perhaps feeling left out by the success of their neighbors to the south with their own Triple Crown events, Canada's horseracing leaders devised a trio of races of their own. The Canadian Triple Crown was created in 1959. And it is notable for the way it mirrors the American series in some ways, but also differs from it in significant ways.

Canada

The distances for the Canadian Triple Crown are exactly the same as the races in America. The Queen's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, is 1 1/4 miles, just like the Kentucky Derby. The Prince of Wales Stakes in Fort Erie, Ontario, mirrors the distance of the Preakness Stakes at 1 3/16 miles. Finally, there is the Breeders' Stakes, also at Woodbine, with a distance of 1 1/2 miles, just like the Belmont Stakes.

The difference is in the surfaces on which the races are run. The American Triple Crown is held exclusively on dirt. But in Canada, each Triple Crown race is run on a different surface: Tapeta, a synthetic surface, for the Queen's Plate; dirt for the Prince of Wales; and turf for the Breeders' Stakes.

This mix of surfaces makes it particularly difficult, as most horses tend to perform well on one surface or another, but few are adept at all. Nevertheless, it has been accomplished seven times since 1959. New Providence won the crown in its first year of existence in 1959, while Wando became the most recent Triple Crown champion in 2003.

Sydney, New South Wales, is the home of all three races in the Australian Triple Crown series. The series has essentially been in existence since 1935 when the Canterbury Guineas was the last of the three races to be run. Other races in the Australian Triple Crown are the Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby.

Australia

Like most of the existing Triple Crown series, Australia limits the races to three-year-olds only. There was also a change in the series when the Canterbury Guineas was replaced by the Randwick Guineas in 2005. Each of the three races gets longer in distance as the year goes on, making it harder for horses that might be tired from the earlier races to complete the Crown.

Perhaps that is why there are only five Triple Crown winners in Australian racing history. The first was Moorland in 1943. It's a Dundeel was the last to complete the task when he did so in 2013.

France is home to a thriving horse racing industry, with many illustrious races held on French soil. It is also home to a Triple Crown series that hasn't been repeated since the late 19th century. Only two horses have won the French Triple Crown: Zut in 1879 and Perth in 1899. The races involved are the French 2000 Guineas, the Prix du Jockey Club and the Grand Prix de Paris.

France

Sha Tin Racecourse is the venue for all three legs of the Hong Kong Triple Crown. The races are held earlier in the year than many of the Triple Crowns in other countries. Like others, however, Hong Kong's Triple Crown races escalate in distance as the year progresses.

Hong Kong

The events in the Hong Kong Triple Crown are the Stewards' Cup, the Gold Cup and the Champions and Chater Cup, which is the longest of the three. Horses compete for large purses, and any horse that completes the Triple Crown receives a handy bonus for its handlers to share.

To date, only one horse has ever claimed this huge bonus. River Verdon won the Triple Crown in 1994, just two years after the Hong Kong Triple Crown was established.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Japan Triple Crown series is the length of the races. By the time the series concludes with the Kikuka Sho at Kyoto Racecourse, the horses competing must cover 3,000 meters, or nearly two miles. This makes the Belmont Stakes in the United States look like a walk in the park.

Japan

The other races in the series are the Satsuki Show at Nakayama Racecourse and the Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse. If you look at the translations for the official race names, you'll see how the races are viewed: Satsuki Show is the test of speed, Tokyo Yushun is the test of luck, and Kikuka Show is the test of strength.

Needless to say, the horse that wins the Japanese Triple Crown must possess all of these qualities in abundance. It has been accomplished six times in history. In 1944, St. Lite became the first horse to accomplish the feat, while Deep Impact completed the trifecta in 2005 to become the most recent winner.

No matter where you travel in the world, you're likely to visit a place that hosts its own version of the Thoroughbred Triple Crown. While the details, styles, and tracks may differ, the bottom line is that the races are set up to be extremely challenging. As a result, only the best of the best can overcome the obstacles and competition within the races to become a Triple Crown champion.

Our verdict

No matter where you travel in the world, you’re likely to visit a place that holds its own version of a Thoroughbred Triple Crown. Although the details, styles, and tracks might differ, the bottom line is that the races are set up to be extremely demanding. As a result, only the best of the best can overcome the obstacles set against them as well as the competition within the races to become a Triple Crown champion.