In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three races were inaugurated in different years, the last being the Kentucky Derby in 1875. The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950 but awarded to all previous winners as well as those after 1950, is awarded to a horse who wins all three races and is thereafter designated as a Triple Crown winner. The races are traditionally run in May and early June of each year, although global events have resulted in schedule adjustments, such as in 1945 and 2020.

The first winner of all three Triple Crown races was Sir Barton in 1919. Some journalists began using the term Triple Crown to refer to the three races as early as 1923, but it was not until Gallant Fox won the three events in 1930 that Charles Hatton of the Daily Racing Form put the term to common use.

Only 13 horses have ever won the Triple Crown: 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 (2018). , American Pharoah and Justify are the only living Triple Crown winners.

James E. "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons was the first trainer to win the Triple Crown more than once; he trained both Gallant Fox and Omaha for the Belair Stud. Gallant Fox and Omaha are also the only father-son pair to each win the Triple Crown. Bob Baffert became the second trainer to win the Triple Crown more than once, training American Pharoah and Justify. Belair Stud and Calumet Farm are tied as owners with the most Triple Crown victories with two apiece; Calumet's winners were Whirlaway and Citation. Eddie Arcaro rode both of Calumet's Triple Crown champions and is the only jockey to win more than one Triple Crown. Willie Simms is the only African-American jockey to win all three races that would compose the triple crown. During the 1898 Preakness Stakes he rode a different horse, Sly Fox and won the race.

Secretariat holds the stakes record time for each of the three races. His time of 2:24 for miles in the 1973 Belmont Stakes also set a world record that still stands.

Development The three Triple Crown races had existed long before the series received its name: the Belmont Stakes was first run in 1867, the Preakness in 1873, and the Kentucky Derby in 1875.

On December 31, 1912, Johnson N. Camden Jr. proposed a Triple Crown of Kentucky races to be held at Lexington, Louisville, and Latonia, then later a "Quadruple Stake" to include the Douglas Park Racetrack. Neither of these appear to have materialized.

The term "triple crown" in reference to the current three races was in use at least by 1923, although Daily Racing Form writer Charles Hatton is commonly credited with originating the term in 1930.

The order in which the races are run has varied. From 1932 through 2019, the Kentucky Derby was run first, followed by the Preakness, and then the Belmont. Running the three races in a five-week span was instituted in 1969. The Preakness was run before the Kentucky Derby 11 times, most recently in 1931. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness have been run on the same day on two occasions: May 12, 1917, and May 13, 1922.

Scheduling has occasionally been affected by global events. During World War II, the 1945 Kentucky Derby was moved from May 5 to June 9, with the Preakness and Belmont following on June 16 and 23, respectively. In 2020, the Triple Crown was altered from its usual sequence due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The adjusted schedule started with the Belmont Stakes on June 20, at the shortened distance of miles (9 furlongs). The Kentucky Derby ran on September 5, and finally the Preakness on October 3. 2020 also marked the first time for the Belmont Stakes to be run as the opening leg of the Triple Crown.

Each Triple Crown race is open to both colts and fillies. Although fillies have won each of the individual Triple Crown races, none has won the Triple Crown itself. Despite attempts to develop a "Filly Triple Crown" or a "Triple Tiara" for fillies only, no set series of three races has consistently remained in the public eye, and at least four different types of races have been used. Two fillies won the series of the Kentucky Oaks, the Pimlico Oaks (now the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes), and the Coaching Club American Oaks, in 1949 and 1952, but the racing press did not designate either accomplishment as a "Triple Crown". In 1961, the New York Racing Association created a filly Triple Crown of in-state races only, but the races changed over the years. Eight fillies won the NYRA Triple Tiara between 1968 and 1993.

Gelded colts may run in any of the three races today, but they were prohibited from entering the Belmont between 1919 and 1957. Geldings have won each of the individual races, but like fillies, no gelding has ever won the Triple Crown. The closest was Funny Cide, who won the Derby and the Preakness in 2003.

Each of the races is held on a dirt track, rather than the turf surfaces commonly used for important races elsewhere in the world.

2024–2026 changes In 2024 and 2025, the Belmont Stakes was run at Saratoga Race Course at the shorter distance of miles due to the construction of a new grandstand and racing surface at Belmont Park.

In 2026, the Belmont Stakes was run again at Saratoga, while the second race in the series, the Preakness Stakes, was run at Maryland's Laurel Park because of renovations at Pimlico Race Course. The Preakness and Belmont are expected to return in 2027 to Pimlico and Belmont Park, respectively.

2027: Thoroughbred Championship Series and Preakness changes On August 3, 2026, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced the Thoroughbred Championship Series (TCS), a new six-race series for three-year-olds run at Churchill Downs and the NYRA's Belmont Park and Saratoga. The series is set to begin in 2027 and includes the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes as its first two races. The series not including the Preakness Stakes has drawn the future of the Triple Crown into jeopardy, especially as three of the prior five Kentucky Derby winners have not participated in the Preakness due to the two-week turn-around time between the races, forfeiting their chance at the Triple Crown in the process.

On August 5, two days after the TCS announcement, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced that the Preakness Stakes in 2027 would move eight days later to the fourth Sunday in May. This change would leave 22 days between the Derby and Preakness, and 13 days between the Preakness and Belmont. It would mark the first time in history that a Triple Crown race is run on a Sunday. It would also result in the race being run on the weekend of the Memorial Day holiday in 2028, should the schedule remain unchanged. It was also announced that the Preakness' media rights with NBC were extended through 2032.

+ Triple Crown races Kentucky Derby"The Run for the Roses" Preakness Stakes"The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans"Belmont Stakes"The Test of the Champion" Date First Saturday in May Fourth Sunday in May First or Second Saturday in June Current Track Churchill DownsPimlico Race CourseBelmont Park Location Louisville, KentuckyBaltimore, MarylandElmont, New York Distance Thoroughbred Championship Series Status YesNoYes Background Inaugurated in 1875, the race was originally until 1897 when it was shortened to its current distance. It is the only one of the three races to have run continuously from its inception. Colts and geldings carry and fillies . The field has been limited to 20 horses since 1975. Started in 1873 and continuously run since 1894, it is the shortest of the three races. Pimlico was the home of the race from 1873 to 1889 and again from 1908 until the present. The Preakness was not run from 1891 to 1893. Weights are the same as for the Derby. Field is limited to 14 horses. Begun in 1867, it is the oldest of the three races, though not held in 1911 and 1912 due to anti-gambling legislation in New York. The race was held at various New York tracks until 1905 when Belmont Park became the permanent location. Distance varied from until set at in 1926, making it the longest of the three. Weight assignments are the same as the other two races. Field is limited to 16 horses. Trophy The Kentucky Derby Trophy The Woodlawn Vase The August Belmont Trophy

Winners

+ Triple Crown winnersYearWinnerJockeyTrainerOwnerBreederColors 1919 Sir Barton Johnny Loftus H. Guy Bedwell J. K. L. Ross John E. Madden 1930 Gallant Fox Earl Sande Jim Fitzsimmons Belair Stud Belair Stud 1935 Omaha Willie "Smokey" Saunders Jim Fitzsimmons Belair Stud Belair Stud 1937 War Admiral Charles Kurtsinger George Conway Samuel D. Riddle Samuel D. Riddle 1941 Whirlaway Eddie Arcaro Ben A. Jones Calumet Farm Calumet Farm 1943 Count Fleet Johnny Longden Don Cameron Fannie Hertz Fannie Hertz 1946 Assault Warren Mehrtens Max Hirsch King Ranch King Ranch 1948 Citation Eddie Arcaro Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones Calumet Farm Calumet Farm 1973 Secretariat Ron Turcotte Lucien Laurin Meadow Stable Meadow Stable 1977 Seattle Slew Jean Cruguet William H. Turner Jr. Mickey and Karen L. Taylor,Tayhill Stable/Jim Hill, et al. Ben S. Castleman 1978 Affirmed Steve Cauthen Laz Barrera Harbor View Farm Harbor View Farm 2015 American Pharoah Victor Espinoza Bob Baffert Ahmed Zayat Ahmed Zayat 2018 Justify Mike Smith Bob Baffert China Horse Club;Head of Plains Partners;Starlight Racing;WinStar Farm John D. Gunther †† During his 2018 bid for the Triple Crown, Justify used the colors of WinStar Farms (white, green and black star) for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The colors of China Horse Club (red, yellow stars and sleeves) were used in the Belmont Stakes.

At completion of the 2016 season, the three Triple Crown races have attracted 4,224 entrants. Of these, 292 horses have won a single leg of the Triple Crown, 52 horses have won two of the races (23 the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, 18 the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, and 11 the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes), and 13 horses have won all three races. Pillory won both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1922, a year when it was impossible to win the Triple Crown because the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes were run on the same day.

10 of the 13 winners have been "homebreds", owned at the time of their win by their breeders.

Jim Fitzsimmons and Bob Baffert are the only two trainers to have two horses win the Triple Crown, 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. The wins by Fitzsimmons were also the first time that an owner and the first time that a breeder, Belair Stud holding both duties, had a repeat win of the Triple Crown. Calumet Farm is the only other owner with two Triple Crown horses, 1941 winner Whirlaway and 1948 winner Citation. Eddie Arcaro is the only jockey to ride two horses to the Triple Crown, both for Calumet: Whirlaway and Citation. Those two horses' trainers, Ben Jones and Jimmy Jones, were father and son.