2025 Triple Crown Horse Racing Betting Online
When the horses hit the track on May 3 for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, all of them will have a chance to win horse racing’s Triple Crown. Since Justify won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 2018, no horse has seriously threatened to win the Triple Crown. One reason for that is because the Kentucky Derby betting favorite has lost in each of the last six years with Fierceness the most recent to go down. At horse racing odds of 5/2, the colt finished 24 1/2 lengths off the pace in a disappointing 15th place. Justify was the last favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. American Pharoah ended the longest drought without a Triple Crown winner at 37 years, winning all three races in 2015. Also, a winner at the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year, American Pharoah is the only horse to win the modern Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. Before that you have to go all the way back to Affirmed in 1978 for a Triple Crown winner.
The Triple Crown is arguably the most impressive achievement in all of sports. Horses have to eschew the typical racing schedule to win three races in the span of five weeks to claim this honor and win $5 million dollars. That’s why there have only been 13 Triple Crown winners, and only two horses have won the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
It is arguably more difficult to win the Triple Crown now then it was back in the day as the Kentucky Derby routinely has a 20-horse field, and some owners and trainers will only enter their horses in one of the three races. These races are more international than they were in the past too, making it even more difficult to claim one of the biggest achievements in sports.
Horse Racing Betting Lines
2025 Triple Crown Races
151st Kentucky Derby
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Location: Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY
Race Distance: 1 1/4 miles (10 furlongs), dirt track
Purse: $5 million
No race has more prestige and tradition than the Kentucky Derby. Owners, trainers, and jockeys would gladly trade all of their other wins for just one Kentucky Derby title.
150th Preakness Stakes
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Location: Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, MD
Race Distance: 1 3/16 Miles
Purse: $2 million
The Preakness Stakes doesn’t have quite the same prestige as the Kentucky Derby, but the second leg of the Triple Crown is more fun oriented.
157th Belmont Stakes
Date: Saturday, June 7, 2025
Location: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY (Belmont Park Construction)
Race Distance: 1 1/4 miles (12 furlong ), dirt track
Purse: $2 million
Known as “The Test of the Champion,” the Belmont Stakes is the longest of the Triple Crown races. Many horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, but it’s uncommon to see a horse that can complete the final marathon leg and all of its pressure. Secretariat’s 31-length win at the 1973 Belmont remains one of the most awe-inspiring performances in sports history.
Triple Crown Format
There's no such thing as a cheap way into the Triple Crown race field anymore, as ponies have to either win one of the major prep races leading into the Run for the Roses or finish in the money multiple times over the course of their two- and three-year old year seasons. Horses don't just go from maidens to Triple Crown winners, and they don't retire without accomplishing other great things as well.
Triple Crown Winners
| YEAR |
WINNER |
JOCKEY |
TRAINER |
| 2018 |
Justify |
Mike E. Smith |
Bob Baffert |
| 2015 |
American Pharoah |
Victor Espinoza |
Bob Baffert |
| 1978 |
Affirmed |
Steve Cauthen |
Laz Barrera |
| 1977 |
Seattle Slew |
Jean Cruguet |
William H. Turner Jr. |
| 1973 |
Secretariat |
Ron Turcotte |
Lucien Laurin |
| 1948 |
Citation |
Eddie Arcaro |
Horace A. Jones |
| 1946 |
Assault |
Warren Mehrtens |
Max Hirsch |
| 1943 |
Count Fleet |
Johnny Longden |
Don Cameron |
| 1941 |
Whirlaway |
Eddie Arcaro |
Ben Jones |
| 1937 |
War Admiral |
Charley Kurtsinger |
George Conway |
| 1935 |
Omaha |
Willie Saunders |
Jim Fitzsimmons |
| 1930 |
Gallant Fox |
Earl Sande |
Jim Fitzsimmons |
| 1919 |
Sir Barton |
Johnny Loftus |
H. Guy Bedwell |
The longest stretch in the history of horse racing without a Triple Crown was from 1978 to 2015 when American Pharoah ended the 37-year drought in one of the best moments in horse racing over the course of the last four decades. Prior to that, Seattle Slew and Affirmed won the Triple Crown in consecutive years, the only time that has ever happened.
The Triple Crown was claimed a whopping three times in the 1930s and four times in the 1940s, and it's unlikely we'll ever see anything like that degree of dominance again. Only one jockey and two trainers have ever won the Triple Crown twice. Eddie Arcaro was the rider for both Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948. Jim Fitzsimmons trained Gallant Fox and Omaha in 1930 and 1935, while Bob Baffert was the trainer of the last two Triple Crown winners.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention the great Secretariat. Not only did the horse nicknamed "Big Red" win all three legs of the Triple Crown, but he did so in record time in each race. All three records continue to stand to this day, and his 1973 Belmont Stakes winning time of 2:24 flat with a margin of victory of 31 lengths is still one of the most impressive displays all-time in the history of sports.
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