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]
- ^ "Canada's Triple Crown - About.com, A part of The New York Times Company". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ Fink, James (June 9, 2014). Prince of Wales race gets TV coverage across Canada. Business First. Retrieved June 9, 2014.