What will happen if the American Triple Crown doesn’t adapt?

When it was announced that Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty was bypassing the Preakness Stakes in favor of the Belmont Stakes, horse racing X (formerly known as Twitter) threw a tantrum.

The demand that “the connections owed it to the fans” was met with the rebuttal that Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott probably knew what he was doing when it came to training a racehorse. Regardless of what horse racing Twitter— excuse me X— wants, Mott is skipping the Preakness with Sovereignty in favor of a career. If that career extends beyond November is TBD.

There seems to be two camps in horse racing: the traditionalists and those open to change. Begrudgingly, I think I’m leaning towards change.

I was fortunate to get into horse racing around 2014, the start of a golden run for horse racing with ‘Chrome, American Pharaoh and Justify in the classics. May has always been my favorite month because of the chaos from the Triple Crown (and my birthday). If it does change, I’ll be sad to see it happen, but I’d hope the change would keep those three legs relevant.

But it does make me disappointed to see such a quality animal like Sovereignty skip the Preakness. I need to see him and Journalism throw down again.

Maybe the Triple Crown is just having a couple weird years. Maybe this will be like the recent 6-year run where only favorites won the Derby. Or maybe the Preakness will become irrelevant.

I can’t help but think of other Triple Crowns around the world when it comes to our own T.C. crisis.

In England, the Triple Crown sort of doesn’t exist anymore. It’s three legs— the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger— span six months. The last winner of the English Triple Crown was Nijinsky in 1970.

In modern days, it’s not assumed that the Guineas winner will go on to the Derby, and the Guineas winner certainly won’t be in the St. Leger (which is open to 3-year-olds and up).

Even spaced out, there isn’t a trainer or racehorse willing to attempt it. If the English's 6-month long Triple Crown isn’t viable, why should hypothetically spaced out U.S. Triple Crown be viable?

Of course the argument can be made that the English Triple Crown’s mile to 1 ¾ miles distances is impossible for the modern thoroughbred. But that also, isn’t entirely true.

In Japan, their Triple Crown season begins in late April with the 1 ¼ miles Satsuki Sho, then the 1 ½ miles Tokyo Yushun in June and finally the about 1 ¾ miles Kikuka Sho in late October. There’s a fillies version too in the same timeframe, but between distances from a mile to 1 ½ miles.

Just this century, there have been three winners of the colts Triple Crown and six winners of the fillies Triple Crown in Japan.

So it is possible then for a racehorse to excel over a wide range of distances over a long time.

Which puts us back at the dilemma the American racing community is facing: what ever will we do about the Triple Crown?

Do the host organizations find a way to collaborate and keep the Triple Crown intact but spaced out? Or do they leave it alone and hope it finds its feet again?

I’m not a fortune teller. I don’t have the answer. All I know is I think the hope and excitement about racing is a lot better with one, regardless of its shape.

Also, enough with the asterisk argument. If we play along with this argument, here’s the changes that should be made to the record books:

• Sir Barton in 1919? Not a Triple Crown winner because he won the whole thing in 32 days and that is not like how it is now so it doesn’t count.

• Gallant Fox in 1930? Doesn’t count because he won the Preakness first.

• Gallant Fox’s brilliant little boy Omaha doesn’t count either with just seven days between the Derby and Preakness in 1935.

• War Admiral in 1937? Nope! Preakness was just a week after the Derby. Doesn’t count.

• Mr. Longtail Whirlaway? The 1941 racing badboy? Only seven days between the Derby and Preakness. Doesn’t count.

• Count Fleet? His series of big wins in 1943 are another Omaha situation. If it ain’t got the same spacing as it does nowadays it don’t matter.

• Oh gosh, this is unfortunate, Assault also doesn’t count. Why did they keep running the Preakness a week after the Derby in the 1930s and 1940s?

• Citation counts right? Right? WRONG! He had a 4-week gap between the Preakness and the Belmont. Citation is a fraud.

So there you have it folks, if we base the concept of the American Triple Crown on the way it looks in this very moment, we have just five winners of the American Triple Crown!

(The claim can also be made that everyone before 2013 is no longer a Triple Crown winner because now we have a points system to get into the Derby. In that case, congrats Coolmore for standing the only two American Triple Crown winners in history!)

Photos: 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in January 2025. Photo by Lillian Davis.