The Canadian and U.S. Triple Crown series share a similar goal — testing the best three-year-old horses across three demanding races — but the paths to completing each series are quite different. From the outset, The Canadian Triple Crown (CTC) series hasn’t seen a winner for twenty-three years. In contrast, south of the border, the U.S. Triple Crown (TC) series, has witnessed a winner within the last decade. Stats wise, each series is almost tit for tat, with 12 CTC winners and 13 U.S. TC winners to date. Pocketing these thoughts for the time being, let’s step back to 2003 when trainer Mike Keogh won the CTC series with Wando. Ridden by Patrick Husbands for owner and breeder, Gus Schickendanz, Wando remains the last Canadian-bred to win the series. Given that it’s a pretty tough task to complete, it’s worth throwing Keogh a hardball question about the endeavour. Do you think Wando could have won the U.S. Triple Crown series? “Not necessarily, but I do think he would have been very tough if he ran the race he did in the Queen’s Plate. He ran a huge race that day.” Wando won the Queen’s Plate over Woodbine’s dirt course, then conquered his rivals in the Prince of Wales over a muddy dirt track at Fort Erie before wrapping things up with an impressive win in the Breeders’ Stakes back at Woodbine. “The last leg being on the turf I think does make it a little tougher,” said Keogh. It’s an intricacy worth noting and for those not versed on either series it’s important to give a historic and contemporary lay of the land for each series, including the various race distances, the surfaces for each leg, and highlight the revamps along the way. The structure and history of the Canadian and U.S. Triple Crown series Each Triple Crown series includes three races run at three different distances over various surfaces during the summer months in North America. The Canadian Triple Crown series is composed of the King’s Plate, The Prince of Wales, and the Breeders’ Stakes. The U.S. Triple Crown series includes the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Each race in the series, both in the Canada and the U.S. pre date the establishment of the Triple Crown series. For example, the King’s Plate, which began in 1860 is the oldest continually run race in North America. Over the last few centuries, with the changing of monarchs, the Plate has been titled the Queen and King’s Plate respectively. Nearly a century to the Plate’s inception, the CTC came into being. According to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the CTC series received formally recognition in 1959. In the U.S., the first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875. Our American counterparts did beat the Canadians to the punch and inaugurated their TC series in the early 50s. Schedule wise, the King’s Plate is run in mid-August going a mile and quarter over Woodbine’s all-weather (tapeta) course. The second leg, the Prince of Wales is run in early September at Fort Erie Race Track going a mile and three-sixteenths over the dirt. Finally, the third leg is run in late September back at Woodbine going a mile and a half over the E.P Taylor Turf course. Meanwhile, the first part of the U.S. TC series, the Kentucky Derby is traditionally run in early May at Churchill Downs, followed by the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in late May and then the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in early June. The distance for each leg of the U.S. TC series mirrors the distances for each leg of the CTC series. In recent years, the U.S. TC series has undergone (and is still undergoing changes) which have impacted the location and distance of certain races in the series. For instance, between 2024 to 2026, the Belmont Stakes has been run at Saratoga Racecourse going a mile and a quarter (over the dirt) due to track renovations at Belmont Park. Side note: The Belmont Stakes has traditionally been run going a mile and a half but in recent news there’s been talk of transitioning this last leg of the US TC series to a shorter distance for future installments of the race. A trip down memory lane with Hall of Fame conditioner Roger Attfield showcases just how much the CTC series has also changed over the last five decades. “The Triple Crown in the days of Norcliffe are totally different than they are now. In respect – two of them (Prince of Wales and Breeders’) were on the turf and they were spaced out over the whole summer. It was really strange, actually. He won so many stakes between those races because of the time period. It went all summer. The reason he probably didn’t win the Triple Crown is he didn’t like the soft ground under his feet too much and when it came to the Breeders at the end of the year it was quite soft. That was totally different than the other Triple Crowns,” said Attfield. In 1976, Norcliffe won the Plate in late May and ran three races between July and August before winning the Prince of Wales in early September. In early October, Norcliffe finished fifth in the Breeders’ Stakes. Surface wise, the Plate was traditionally run on dirt and the Prince of Wales on grass. In the late 80s, the Prince of Wales transitioned over to the Fort’s dirt course. In the summer of 2006 (after the running of the Plate), Woodbine transitioned from dirt to a polytrack. Ten years later, the polytrack was replaced with tapeta. Before those latter changes came into effect Attfield swept the Triple Crown series with three horses, With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990), and Peteski (1993). Fun fact, Attfield’s third Triple Crown series winner, Peteski, was a son of 1978 U.S. Triple Crown winner, Affirmed. By the time, Peteski was crowned a Triple Crown champ in ‘93, the timing between each race in the series had tightened up. Case in point, Peteski won the Plate in early July, the Prince of Wales in early August, and the Breeders’ later that month. While the Kentucky Derby has a tight hold on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness has now lost its foothold on being run two weeks after the Derby. A recent announcement indicates the Preakness will now be slated to run in late May, three weeks from the Derby and two weeks out from the Belmont. This scheduling change will no doubt impact a trainer’s decision to run in all three U.S. TC races. Who are the U.S. and Canadian Triple Crown winners? The first five CTC winners, Queensway (1932), Archworth (1939), Uttermost (1945), Ace Marine (1955), and Canadian Champ (1956) were not initially considered Triple Crown winners until the series become inaugurated in the late 50s. The next seven CTC winners span from the late 50s to the early 2000s, including New Providence (1959), Canebora (1963), With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990), Dance Smartly (1991), Peteski (1993), and Wando (2003). Similar to the CTC series only a handful of horses have been able to sweep the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont. In 1919, Sir Barton became the first horse to accomplish the sweep. The next horse, Gallant Fox followed suit in 1930, and his son, Omaha won the series five years later. Ten other horses have won the series including War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015). In 2018, Justify became the thirteenth horse to win the series. Attracting talent to the Canadian Triple Crown series Talent wise, the Canadian Triple Crown series remains restricted to Canadian-bred three-year-olds whereas the U.S. TC series is only restricted to three-year-olds. Essentially, Canadian-bred horses can run in the U.S. Triple Crown, but American-bred horses cannot compete in the CTC series. Case in point, Northern Dancer. Northern Dancer won the 1964 Kentucky Derby, followed by a win in the Preakness Stakes and then shipped back to Canada to win the Queen’s Plate later that summer. In 1983, another Canadian-bred, Sunny’s Halo won the Kentucky Derby. And yes, some more recent Kentucky Derby winners such as Rich Strike have Canadian roots. It’s worth noting that Rich Strike’s dam, Gold Strike was a Manitoba-bred mare who funny enough ran third in the 2005 Queen’s Plate. With less restrictions, U.S. TC series naturally lends itself to attracting a wider pool of talent – whether a horse is foaled in Canada, across the pond, or even a little further than that. For example, in 2024, Japanese-bred Forever Young ran and finished third in the Kentucky Derby. While he wasn’t a TC runner the well-known racehorse has gone on to win multiple Grade 1 races across the globe. Racing conditions such as age and breed restrictions fall within a racing secretary’s wheelhouse. Woodbine’s racing secretary Scott Lane provided the following insight on the CTC series restrictions. “The Canadian Triple is restricted to all horses foaled in Canada and the reason behind that originally was to create a series to incentivise Canadian racing participants to breed, buy and race domestically bred horses and to build a strong racing program inside of Canada,” said Lane. Racing historian, Tom Cosgrove has a ton of heart for the game, but he does not mince words on where he stands with the current eligibility conditions for the CTC series. “Personally, I’m all for opening the race up because it is going to re-establish the Plate as a premiere race – the million-dollar purse is already significant. To me, it would create much more interest and make it a much more vibrant attraction.” While Cosgrove appreciates the historic nature of the series, he also keenly understands the importance of change. “Canadian racing’s venerable, vibrant history and Woodbine’s well-earned reputation as one the world’s best destinations are pillars that allow the King’s Plate and by definition, the Canadian Triple Crown to become open to three-year-olds from anywhere and everywhere. The time has come to revise and reenergize this great Canadian sporting tradition,” said Cosgrove. Although Canadian-breds have won parts of the U.S. series there have been no American-bred, or international-bred horses afforded that opportunity to compete in the CTC series because it remains restricted to Canadian-bred horses. Unlike Cosgrove, longtime breeder, Glenn Sikura does not buy into opening up the CTC series. “Should Lebron James be allowed to play for the University of Guelph in the CIU championship? Gosh, it would be nice to see him there, but he would probably score 160 points in the game. I think people know the race for what it is. It has great historical significance.” Running a successful breeding operation such as Hill ‘n’ Dale, Sikura understands the important value of keeping the Canadian Triple Crown series solely for Canadian-bred horses. Moreover, the thoroughbred builder who wears many hats, including breeding and consigning horses, Sikura provided his two cents on why restrictions shouldn’t be lifted: “In a perfect world, no. We don’t live in a perfect world and it’s a great incentive for Canadians and people to participate in the Canadian market. I think the likelihood is the vast majority of those races would be won by foreign horses if those races were to be opened up. And you’ve got so many people that have done such a good job of supporting the Canadian industry – it’s a pretty good cherry for them to be able to run for those races. If it were more level playing field, yea sure, but every Canadian who participates in racing I would think is thinking or hoping that one day they will have a Plate winner,” said Sikura. Sikura added: “To open that up to Sheikh Mohammad, Winstar Farm and whoever else – I don’t think that would be well-received by the majority.” Covering horse racing for the last thirty-five years, Bill Tallon is also opposed to opening up the race to U.S or foreign-bred runners. “I would be totally against lifting any restrictions. I’m not a huge tradionalists. I think it has to be for Canadian-breds, it’s our race. I would hate to see it any different,” said Tallon. Woodbine’s race caller, Robert Gellar has called twelve Plate and Breeders’ Stakes races. From his viewpoint, he also supports maintaining tradition rather than uprooting it. “Firstly, my sense having been here awhile now is people really like the fact that it is for the Canadian- breds. I think they like the fact that it is for Canadian-bred horses because it gives them a sense of pride. And even though people are aware that some of the winners of those races may not be competitive in Triple Crown races in the U.S. there are some that have been and there will always be some that will be. And so, I think overall that is a distinction that I think people are still comfortable with,” said Gellar. Dangling the carrot (i.e. a bonus) and creating incentive to run in the Triple Crown series The purse money attached to each Triple Crown race also plays a pivotal role in whether an owner or ownership group will decide to enter their horse into a race, let alone all three races. Both the Canadian and U.S. Triple Crown series have healthy sized purses attached to each of their respective races. The $1 million King’s Plate is followed by the $500k Prince of Wales, and then the $500k Breeders’ Stakes. In the U.S., purse-wise, the $5 million Kentucky Derby is followed by the $2 million Preakness Stakes and $2 million Belmont Stakes. Purse money is of course a different story to adding a bonus to the series. When Roger Attfield won back-to-back Triple Crown series with champs, With Approval and Izvestia the CTC series included a sweet million-dollar bonus in coordination with the Bank of Montreal. In the U.S., during the late 80s, Chrysler offered up a 5-million-dollar bonus for a horse that could get the job done in all three legs. Chrysler’s Triple Crown bonus remained in effect until ’93 during which time no horse was able to complete the feat. A couple years later, between ’95 and 2005, Visa offered up 5 million bonus for Triple Crown winners. Several horses came close but to no avail of receiving the bonus. Currently, both the U.S. and the Canadian series fall short of offering a ‘series sweeping’ bonus. Geller believes it’s high time for a bonus to be reintroduced to the series. “For horses that are American owned, to really get an opportunity to run for bigger money and I would suggest what they could reintroduce is a TC bonus through a sponsor. Give it a chance before opening it up if we have the desire to. But give it a give chance for the Ontario bred horses even if they are American owned to go for money that makes it worthwhile to win a Triple Crown,” said Geller. In recent years, it has become more commonplace for trainers to skip the second or even third leg of each series for various reasons. The most widely cited reason being what’s in the horse’s best interest. And by interest, a horse’s connections are usually considering not just a horse’s well-being, but the incentives to run in a race and the economic value it might add to a horse’s resume and stud (or broodmare) career down the line. For example, this year’s King’s Plate winner, Luster dominated in the first leg of the series, but her connections opted out of competing in the Prince of Wales Stakes. Instead of vying to become a CTC winner, Luster’s Hall of Fame trainer, Josie Carroll is possibly pointing the filly towards the $750k Grade I Queen Elizabeth Challenge at Keeneland next month. No doubt, a possible bonus structure might play a key role in reviving both the Canadian and U.S. TC series. At this point in time, that revival seems more likely north of the border rather than south of it. Especially, given Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association’s joint decision to create a six-race series which includes the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes but not the Preakness. — While some may say the CTC is tougher because its run on different surfaces, others might argue the U.S. TC series is a better test of talent because it attracts a wider pool of talent. Yet, as with politics, it’s a topic the could be debated endlessly from both sides. Moreover, the recently announced changes to the U.S. TC series add another layer of complexity to deciphering which is truly the most challenging. While Tallon has no dog in this fight, when asked about which is a better test of talent, he poignantly remarked: “That’s tough. I would say the U.S. – but the U.S. Triple Crown is going to be extinct with this series between NYRA and Churchill.” To which Gen Z would most likely respond, ‘say less.’ But again, only time will tell which series will withstand the test of time. And, right now, the stability and the tradition of the CTC series looks to be reigning triumphant in comparison to the U.S. TC series. -30- Hayley Morrison, for Woodbine Share This:Share
