Facts and History about the Triple Crown

The Triple Crown is an event of three race horses comprised of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. The races began in the late 1800s, and only 11 horses in the history of North American horse racing have ever won all three races in the Triple Crown. Find out more about how difficult the Triple Crown horse races are for horses and jockeys with information from a former professional jockey in this free video on horse races.

Here's some facts and history about the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is event of three races that is comprised of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. These races are restricted to three year olds only, and there's only been eleven horses in history of North American racing to ever win all three of these races. The Kentucky Derby, it's always run the first Saturday in May, is a mile and a quarter. And this is, generally, it's a full field of twenty horses. And to win this race is an amazing feat for any horse. Two weeks later they have to go again, they have to race again in the Preakness Stakes, and a lot of times you'll see that a lot of those horses that ran the Kentucky Derby won't be able to go over to the Preakness. So you'll see a much smaller field that'll compete in that race. And that race is only a mile and three sixteenths. After that, three weeks later, they travel to Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes. This race might be the toughest one of all, because it's a mile and a half. A mile and a half is, that's a very long distance for the thoroughbreds to run. They don't usually run that distance. So, for a horse you can see why it would be so difficult for all three of those races to be won by one horse. These races were all a big part of American history. They started back in the late eighteen hundreds, and they're still a very big part of American history today.