The Canadian Triple Crown (branded as the OLG Canadian Triple Crown for sponsorship reasons) is a series of three

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

s run annually in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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 surface The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common tra ...

s. The first leg, the

King's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a max ...

in August, is contested at 1¼ miles on Tapeta at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, whereas the

Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (1.9 km; ...

in September is a 1³/16 mile event run on dirt at

Fort Erie Race Track Fort Erie Race Track is a horse racing facility in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, that opened on June 16, 1897. The racetrack is often referred to as "the border oval" because of the track's proximity (barely a mile) to the U.S. border. Its most imp ...

Fort Erie, Ontario Fort Erie is a town in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffal ...

. The final leg is the 1½ mile

Breeders' Stakes The Breeders' Stakes is a stakes race for Thoroughbred race horses foaled in Canada, first run in 1889. Since 1959, it has been the third race in the Canadian Triple Crown for three-year-olds. Held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in ...

in October, which is run on

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''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

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

s. This differs from the situation in Europe, where many important flat races, notably the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and all but

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

classics, bar geldings. Since 2024, all of the races in the Canadian Triple Crown have been televised by

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

and

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

, succeeding a prior agreement with TSN.

Winners of the Triple Crown

Twelve horses are officially recognized as winning the Canadian Triple Crown: Champions:

Individual race winners

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. In 2020, trainer

Josie Carroll Josie Carroll (born December 8, 1957) is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer, who in 2006 became the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate, Canada's oldest and most prestigious thoroughbred horse race. She also won the Queen's Plate in 20 ...

won all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown with

Mighty Heart Mighty Heart (foaled April 5, 2017) is a one-eyed Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion three-year-old colt after winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of ...

winning the then

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a ma ...

and

and Belichick winning the

References

External links

Woodbine Racetrack official websiteFort Erie Race Track official website
{{Triple Crown of Horse Racing Recurring events established in 1959 Horse races in Canada Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

Winners of the Triple Crown

Individual race winners

Notes

See also

References

External links