Triple Crown horse racing involved three races, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. For a horse to win the Triple Crown he or she must win all three races in a single year. Only 11 horses in history have won in Triple Crown , the last of which was Affirmed in 1978.
Triple Crown begins with the Kentucky Derby. It has been the longest continuously run sporting event in the United States and is probably the most popular horse race in the world. It was first run in 1875 and is held on the first Saturday in May each year. It is run at Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, Kentucky.
The second of the three Triple Crown events is the Preakness Stakes. It was first run in 1873. The winner of this race in Triple Crown horse racing gets the “Woodlawn Vase” that is valued at $1 million dollars. The Preakness Stakes Triple Crown wagering race is held 2 weeks after the Kentucky Derby at Pimlico racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland.
The third of the Triple Crown horse racing events is the Belmont Stakes. It was first run in 1867 and is held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is the most grueling of the three Triple Crown horse racing events as the horses have to run a mile and a half.
Triple Crown wagering is exciting and somewhat different since all three of the Triple Crown horse racing events are held at different distances and have different dynamics. The Kentucky Derby Triple Crown dynamics have it being a wide open race with a lot of horses and a lot of traffic. Usually a full field of 20 horses is involved in Triple Crown wagering for the Derby. The Preakness has a much shorter Triple Crown field and the Derby winner is almost always the Triple Crown wagering favorite. The Belmont usually has a short field as well and horses that did well in the Derby or Preakness may struggle with the distance of the Belmont in Triple Crown.