Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Canadian Triple Crown (branded as the OLG Canadian Triple Crown for sponsorship reasons) is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada. Established in 1959, the series is unique in that it shares the same distances as its American counterpart but is contested on three different track surfaces.[1]
The first leg, the King's Plate in August, is contested at 1¼ miles on Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, whereas the Prince of Wales Stakes in September is a 1³/16 mile event run on dirt at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. The final leg is the 1½ mile Breeders' Stakes in October, which is run on turf over one full lap of the E. P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine.
The Canadian Triple Crown shares another characteristic with its American counterpart – all of the races in both series are open to geldings. This differs from the situation in Europe, where many important flat races, notably the British and all but one of the French classics, bar geldings.
Since 2014, all of the races in the Canadian Triple Crown have been televised by TSN.[2]
Winners of the Triple Crown
Twelve horses are officially recognized as winning the Canadian Triple Crown:[3][4][5]
Champions:
Individual race winners
| Denotes winners of the Canadian Triple Crown | |
| Denotes winners of the King's Plate and the Prince of Wales Stakes but not the Breeders' Stakes | |
| Denotes other winners of any other combination of 2 out of the 3 Canadian Triple Crown races |
Notes
- † The Canadian Triple Crown was officially established in 1959
- ♥ indicates filly
Notes
In 2011, Luis Contreras became the first jockey to sweep the Triple Crown races with different horses. He won the then Queen's Plate on Inglorious and the next two races on Pender Harbour.[6]
In 2020, trainer Josie Carroll won all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown with Mighty Heart winning the then Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes and Belichick winning the Breeders' Stakes.
See also
References
- ^ "Canada's Triple Crown - About.com, A part of The New York Times Company". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ Fink, James (June 9, 2014). Prince of Wales race gets TV coverage across Canada. Business First. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
- ^ "WEG, Hall of Fame announces grandfathering of Canadian Triple Crown winners". Woodbine Entertainment Group. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ "WEG, Hall of Fame Announces Grandfathering of Canadian Triple Crown Winners". Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ "Canadian Hall of Fame Honors Early Triple Crown Winners". Blood-Horse. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ "Luis Contreras claims Sovereign Award as Canadian racing's top jockey | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 30 June 2016.