The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, sometimes known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds in the United States, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three races were established in various years, with the most recent being the Kentucky Derby in 1875.
Has a Horse Won the Triple Crown Twice – The Short answer is NO because it is not possible. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes are races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds. Once the horses have their fourth birthday they are no longer eligible for the Triple Crown Races.
The Triple Crown – Early Beginnings, all the Champions
Sir Barton was the first horse to win all three Triple Crown events in 1919. Although some writers used the word Triple Crown to describe the three races as early as 1923, it wasn’t until Gallant Fox won the three contests in 1930 that Charles Hatton of the Daily Racing Form popularized the phrase.
There was an 11-year hiatus between the first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, in 1919 and the next winner, Gallant Fox, in 1930. Between 1930 and 1948, seven horses won the Triple Crown, with the greatest interval between winners being five years. However, after Citation’s 1948 victory, there was a 25-year hiatus until Secretariat ended the Triple Crown drought in 1973. There were three Triple Crown champions between 1973 and 1978.
Only the best of the best wins the Triple Crown, the Champion amongst Champions. Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015), and Justify (2015) are the 13 Triple Crown winners. American Pharoah and Justify are the only living Triple Crown champions.
Only Jim Fitzsimmons and Bob Baffert have trained two Triple Crown winners, with Fitzsimmons training the sire/son combination of 1930 winner Gallant Fox and 1935 winner Omaha, and Baffert training 2015 winner American Pharoah and 2018 winner Justify.
Fitzsimmons’ victories were also the first by an owner and the first by a breeder, with Belair Stud having both roles. Calumet Farm is the only other owner with two Triple Crown winners, Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948. Eddie Arcaro is the only jockey to have ridden two Triple Crown winners, Calumet, Whirlaway, and Citation. Ben Jones and Jimmy Jones, the trainers of the two horses, were father and son. The horses were all born in the United States as were the majority of owners, trainers, and jockeys a few exceptions
The Triple Crown – The Latter Years Important Statistics
The three Triple Crown events drew a phenomenal 4,224 entries after the 2016 season, as the Races which formed part of the Triple Crown increased in importance on the USA Horseracing Calendar.
Two Hundred and Ninety-Two horses have won a single leg of the Triple Crown, whilst fifty-two horses have won two of the three races that form part of the Triple Crown (23 have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, 18 have won the Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes and 11 have won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes), and 13 have won all three races.
The Triple Crown – Other Significant Statistics
Alydar was the only horse to place (finish second) in all three races. In 1978, he was beaten by Affirmed by a cumulative margin of two lengths. His trainer, John Veitch, is the only one who has done this with a single horse.
D. Wayne Lukas became the first and only significant figure (owner, jockey, or trainer) to win all three Triple Crown races with separate horses in 1995, with Thunder Gulch winning the Derby and Belmont and Timber Country winning the Preakness. Lukas is also the first trainer to have won six consecutive Triple Crown races, including the 1994 Preakness and Belmont Stakes with Tabasco Cat and the 1996 Derby with Grindstone.
Gallant Fox is the only Triple Crown winner to produce another Triple Crown winner in the United States, Omaha. Affirmed sire Peteski, winner of the Canadian Triple Crown in 1993, and when she won the 1993 Belmont Stakes riding Colonial Affair, jockey Julie Krone became the first (and still the only) woman to win a Triple Crown event.
The Triple Crown and the Grand Slam – American Pharoah
In 2015, American Pharoah not only won the Triple Crown, but also the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Because the Breeders’ Cup was first conducted in 1984, American Pharoah was the first (and still is the only) horse to sweep all four races, a feat known as the Grand Slam.
He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and by winning all four races, he became the first Thoroughbred racing Grand Slam winner. At the 2015 Eclipse Awards, he was overwhelmingly selected as American Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse. His win was just the second occasion an American Horse of the Year was voted unanimously, the first being John Henry in 1981. He received the Secretariat Vox Populi Award.
In 2021, he will be inducted into the American Racing Hall of Fame. Throughout his racing career, he was bred and owned by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden by Victor Espinoza in the majority of his races. He is presently a stallion at Kentucky’s Ashford Stud.
At the completion of his Grand Slam season, the Associated Press named American Pharoah’s performances the best sports story of the year. He and his connections also took home the bulk of the year’s horse racing honors.
The Triple Crown – A once in a Lifetime Achievement
Only three-year-old thoroughbreds are eligible for the Feature Races that form part of the Triple Crown run at some of the most famous racetracks in the USA. Only the best of the best have the opportunity to win the Triple Crown, and thirteen horses have accomplished this feat across the decades.
However, only one horse has achieved the almost impossible feat of winning the Triple Crown and the Breeders Cup in one Calendar Season, and that was the mighty, and aptly named, American Pharoah in 2015. Will we see another Superstar sweep the Grand Slam of American Horseracing?
Only Time Will Tell.