Triple Crown Description

UNITED STATES

In the United States the Triple Crown is made up of:

In the U.S., term "Triple Crown" is the usual referent for these three horse races unless another sport is specified.

In 1930, Gallant Fox won all three important races, and sportswriterCharles Hatton brought the phrase "Triple Crown" into American usage.

In the more-than-125-year history of the U.S. events, only eleven horses have ever won the U.S. Triple Crown:

As of May 21, 2005, the longest drought between Triple Crown winners is 26 years, dating back to Spectacular Bid 's ill-fated Triple Crown run in 1979.

Also, as of May 21, 2005 , the VISA Credit Card company, officially withdrew their sponsorship of the US Triple Crown, starting in 2006. It relieves them of paying the $5,000,000 bonus to the owner of the horse that wins the Triple Crown. As of the date this was written, the new sponsor of the US Triple Crown has not been announced.

Some believe this is a result of the New York Racing Association 's decision to break with the other two tracks on a television contract. On October 4 , 2004 , NYRA announced the American Broadcasting Company and ESPN would hold television rights to the Belmont Stakes, breaking from Triple Crown Productions ' deal with NBC Sports . NBC Sports continues the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes rights until 2010. Triple Crown Productions was formed in 1986 with ABC; prior to that, the individual racing associations made their own deals with the TV networks.

There is more speculation that FOX wants to get in the horse racing business, again. From 1999 to 2000, FOX aired a championship series for older horses. The Belmont Stakes contract is up in 2008 and there is a good chance that with the future of the MLB on FOX unknown as of 2/21/06, that FOX could start broadcasting Horse Racing again.

There is also a Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing in the United States, open to three-year old fillies.

Eight horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, only to finish second in the Belmont: Pensive 1944, Tim Tam 1958, Forward Pass 1968, Majestic Prince 1969, Sunday Silence 1989, Silver Charm 1997, Real Quiet 1998, and Smarty Jones 2004.

United Kingdom

In England, where the term Triple Crown originated with West Australian's three wins in 1853, it is made up of:

There is also a Fillies Triple crown for a horse winning the One Thousand Guineas Stakes,Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes. The last winner of this was Oh So Sharp in 1985. In the past this was not considered a true triple crown as the best fillies would run in the Derby and Two Thousand Guineas. As this is no longer the case, the Fillies triple crown would now be considered comparable as the original.

In the 150 years that these races have been run, only 15 horses have ever won the English Triple Crown, including the great Nijinsky II. Nijinsky II is only the second horse to have won the English Triple Crown since the end of World War I. It is unlikely that any horse will ever win the English Triple Crown again, although this was said before Nijinsky won as well. Since Nijinsky, only Nashwan in 1989 has won both the Guineas and the Derby, and in addition no Derby winner has even entered the St Leger since Reference Point in 1987, although this is primarily due to the impact it would have on a horses Stud value, which would not be the case for a horse who had already won the Guineas.

Winners

Canada

Inaugurated in 1959, the "Triple Crown of Canadian Thoroughbred Racing" consists of:

Seven three-year-olds have won the Canadian Triple Crown:

Japan

Japan has two sets of races referred to as Triple Crowns.

Japanese Triple Crown

Only six horses have received the Japanese Triple Crown:

Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown

Only two horses have received the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown:

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