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]
Twelve horses are officially recognized as winning the Canadian Triple Crown: [3] [4] [5]
Champions:
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
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.
The King's Plate 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 1+1⁄4 miles for a maximum of 17 three-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada.
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 was opened in 1956 with a one-mile oval dirt track, as well as a seven-eights turf course. It has been extensively remodeled since 1993, and since 1994 has had three racecourses.
Todd Kabel was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. A native of McCreary, Manitoba, he began his career as a jockey at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in 1987 started competing at tracks in Ontario, moving to Toronto permanently in 1991.
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 1+3⁄16 miles. In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the second race in the Canadian Triple Crown series. It follows the August running of the King's Plate and precedes the Breeders' Stakes in October.
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 Toronto, Ontario, the Breeders' Stakes follows the August running of the King's Plate and the September running of the Prince of Wales Stakes. At a distance of one-and-a-half miles, the Breeders' Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown races and is the only jewel raced on turf.
Norcliffe (1973–1984) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by U.S. Hall of Fame Champion Buckpasser out of the mare Drama School by Northern Dancer.
Izvestia was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1990.
With Approval was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour. Even though he missed the rest of his three-year-old season due to injury, he was named the 1989 Canadian Horse of the Year.
Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates the Canadian digital television service HPItv and operates Canada's only online wagering platform for horse racing, HorsePlayer Interactive. WEG is responsible for operating Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, and it also runs Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, Ontario. It employs over 2,300 people in its operations. WEG also ran the Turf Lounge on Bay Street in Toronto from 2003 to 2015.
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 to the U.S. border. Its most important race is the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Canadian Champ (1953–1978) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who in 1956 won the three races that became the Canadian Triple Crown Championship in 1959. Sired by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Windfields, he was out of the mare Bolesteo.
Carotene is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who holds the filly or mare record for winning the most Sovereign Awards. Bred by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms, she was a daughter of the British sire Great Nephew, who also sired Epsom Derby winners Grundy and Shergar. Carotene's dam was Carrot Top, a mare David Willmot purchased in foal from the Whitney family at the 1982 dispersal sale of their bloodstock in the United Kingdom.
Alydeed is a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Anderson Farms of St. Thomas, Ontario, he was out of the unraced mare Bialy, a daughter of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Alydar. A grandson of British Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, he was sired by Shadeed, the 1985 British Champion Miler and winner of the British Classic, the 2,000 Guineas.
Jonathon C. "Jono" Jones is a Barbadian-born Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who has won each of the Canadian Triple Crown races.
Basqueian is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning two of the 1994 Canadian Triple Crown races.
Classy 'n Smart was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.
Kiridashi is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse.
Mickey K. Walls is a retired Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was a Champion in both the United States and Canada.
Luis Contreras is a Mexican thoroughbred jockey since 2006. After starting his career in Mexico, Contreras started competing in the United States and Canada during the late 2000s. For his graded stakes race career, Contreras has won thirty six Grade III races, twenty two Grade II races and four Grade I races. At the 2011 Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, Contreras won the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes, and Breeders' Stakes. He became the first jockey to use two horses to win the Canadian Triple Crown. In 2014, Contreras came short of another Canadian Triple Crown after finishing tenth at the Breeders' Stakes following wins at the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales.
Mighty Heart 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 the Canadian Triple Crown. His victory time of 2.01.98 in the Queen's Plate was the second-fastest since 1957, when it moved to its current length at Woodbine Racetrack. As a four-year-old in 2021, he won the Blame, Dominion Day and Autumn Stakes.