What’s better than winning one major race? How about winning three instead?
Many sports have their own version of a triple crown: that is, three of the most important trophies that are to be won. In snooker, for example, the triple crown consists of the World Championship, the UK Championship and The Masters – the three majors considered to be the most important in the sport.
The triple crown in horse racing is different in each country where the sport is at its most popular. In this article, we’ll look at the triple crown horse races in the UK, Ireland, France and further afield, marking your card of the key things to look out for from a betting perspective.
English Triple Crown
The English Triple Crown is formed of three of the most prestigious races on the Flat calendar: the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby and the St Leger.
The 2,000 Guineas, run each May on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, identifies the best three-year-old horse over one mile, while the Epsom Derby takes place each June over a slightly longer trip of 1m 4f at Epsom Downs.
The final piece of the horse racing triple crown in the UK is the St Leger, which represents a step up in trip to 1m 6f. It is typically run on good ground each September at Doncaster Racecourse.
To win the triple crown of horse racing takes a remarkable effort: speed, stamina, endurance and the luck that a horse will get the suitable ground they need to beat the best in the business.
As if to emphasise the point, horses have had the opportunity to win the triple crown since the early 1800s, but only 15 have managed to complete the set in more than 200 years.
West Australian was the first to win all of the triple crown horse races in 1853, with the most recent being Nijinsky in 1970 – the only horse to do so in the post-war era.
The Triple Crown is the pinnacle of Flat racing, although some rather prestigious renewals are held over fences each season too. You can browse the latest Cheltenham Festival odds right here at talkSPORT BET, or place a bet on the Grand National ahead of the April showpiece.
Irish Triple Crown
The Irish Triple Crown has a rather familiar look to it…
The triple crown horse races across the Irish Sea replicate those on UK soil, namely the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Irish Derby and the Irish St Leger. They are even contested over the same distances too.
The Irish 2,000 Guineas, run over a mile at the Curragh each May, was the most recent of the triple crown horse races to be established in 1921, with the Irish Derby founded in 1866 and the Irish St Leger in 1915.
Some outstanding horses have won one or two of the renewals in the Irish triple crown of horse racing, but only twice have all three races been claimed by the same horse: Museum (1935) and Windsor Slipper (1942).
Fancy a flutter on any of the Irish Triple Crown races? You’ll find the latest horse racing betting odds right here at talkSPORT BET, as well as some fantastic new customer betting offers to help you get up and running.
Australian Triple Crown
There are some incredibly prestigious races run on Australian soil, but the triple crown remains one of the most prized triumphs in the sport Down Under.
The horse racing triple crown in Australia is made up of the Guineas races at Randwick and Rosehill, plus the Australian Derby which is also contested on the Randwick track.
The first year in which all of the triple crown horse races were run was 1935, with Hadrian almost doing the unthinkable and winning all three in that inaugural year – taking glory in the two Guineas renewals before losing out in the Australian Derby.
Five horses have, however, completed the triple crown of horse racing in Australia:
- Moorland (1943)
- Martello Towers (1959)
- Imagele (1973)
- Octagonal (1996)
- It’s a Dundeel (2013)
US Triple Crown
The triple crown in horse racing is about triumphing against the odds and the quest for honour and prestige… although the prize money comes in handy, too.
The US Triple Crown brings together one of the most lucrative packages in racing, with a combined prize money haul of around $5 million (about £4 million) for connections whose horses can win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
Individually, these races are considered to be incredibly prestigious, but put them together in the triple crown of horse racing and you have a truly awesome achievement for any horse that can claim the spoils in all three.
And yet, 13 different horses have completed the trilogy, such as Secretariat, American Pharaoh and, most recently, Justify in 2018.
French Triple Crown
If you want to know how difficult the French triple crown of horse racing is to win, the history books tell the tale: no horse since the 1800s has been able to pull it off!
Zut in 1879 and Perth in 1899 are the only horses to have prevailed in all three of the key dates in the French Flat racing calendar:
- French 2000 Guineas
- Prix du Jockey Club
- Grand Prix de Paris
The iconic Longchamp track is the host for the first and third triple crown horse races, with Chantilly taking over for the Prix du Jockey Club.
New Zealand Triple Crown
The New Zealand triple crown of horse racing has occasionally been referred to as the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown, given that the famous racecourse in Hastings takes on hosting duties for all three of the races.
The Tarzino Trophy, Horlicks Plate and Livamot Spring Classic make up the horse racing triple crown in New Zealand; it’s fitting that one of the greatest horses ever to race on the lush green soil of Hawke’s Bay is the only runner to have claimed this triple crown.
Melody Belle clinched the triple crown of horse racing in 2019, going on to win the Tarzino and Livamot twice each in total and the Horlicks Plate three times. She’s the most prolific Group 1 race winner in history on New Zealand soil.Whenever you bet on a triple crown horse race, remember to do so responsibly – horse racing betting should always be fun. Find out more at our Safer Gambling portal.
