Every year the United Kingdom holds a series of Triple Crown events for three-year-olds and it is considered one of the nation’s most important and highly esteemed horse racing achievements to win the England Triple Crown. England was actually the first country to establish a Triple Crown when the term originated in 1853 with the horse West Australian winning the following three flat races.
The first leg in the English Triple Crown is the 2000 Guineas Stakes. Run over 1 mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk in late April or early May, the race is worth £400 000.
The second jewel in the Triple Crown is the Epsom Derby. This race takes place at Epsom Downs Racecourse and is run over 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards. Held in early June stakes are set at £1.25 million.
The third and final event of the England Triple Crown series is the St. Leger Stakes. The distance of this even is 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards and it is held at Town Moor in Doncaster, Yorkshire in September offering £500 000 in prize money.
The English Triple Crown has a rich and detailed history dating back over 150 years. In all this time there have only ever been fifteen horses to claim an English Triple Crown victory. The last winner was Nijinsky II who won in 1970 after a Triple Crown winning drought of 35 years. Since his win there have only been two horses to come close to success in this incredible event, winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown, Nashwan (1989) and Sea the Stars (2009). Both of these runners, however, chose not to contend in the St. Leger Stakes. In fact, there have been no Epsom Derby winners to enter the St. Leger Stakes since Reference Point in 1987.
England Triple Crown Winners:
| Year | Winner | Jockeys | Trainer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1853 |
West Australian |
Frank Butler | John Scott | John Bowes |
| 1865 |
Gladiateur |
Harry Grimshaw | T. Jennings, Sr. | Fr’d’ric de Lagrange |
| 1866 |
Ormonde |
Fred Archer | John Porter | Duke of Westminister |
| 1891 |
Common |
George Barrett | John Porter | Sir Frederick Johnstone |
| 1893 |
Isinglass |
Tommy Loates | James Jewitt | Harry McCalmont |
| 1897 |
Galtee More |
Charlie Wood | Sam Darling | John Gubbins |
| 1899 |
Flying Fox |
Morny Cannon | John Porter | Duke of Westminister |
| 1900 |
Diamond Jubilee |
Herbert Jones | Richard Marsh | Edward, Prince of Wales |
| 1903 |
Rock Sand |
Danny Maher | G. Blackwell | Sir James Miller |
| 1915 |
Pommern |
Steve Donoghue | Charles Peck | Solly Joel |
| 1917 |
Gay Crusader |
Steve Donoghue | Alec Taylor, Jr. | Alfred W. Cox |
| 1918 |
Gainsborough |
Joseph Childs | Alec Taylor, Jr. | Lady James Douglas |
| 1935 |
Bahram |
Freddie Fox | Frank Butters | HH Aga Khan III |
| 1970 |
Nijinsky II |
Lester Piggott | V. O’Brien | Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. |
