Triple Crown Winners Cheat Sheet

Triple Crown winner Secretariat in his paddock. (All photos by HorsePhotos.com unless otherwise noted)
There is at least one racing term that immediately inspires respect, and even awe, from people with deep involvement in the racing industry and from those with little knowledge of the sport – the Triple Crown.
The difficulty of capturing the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, at three distances, on three tracks, all in the span of five weeks can’t be overstated. The task is such a tall order that only 11 horses have accomplished it in 139 years of the series – and none since Affirmed in 1978. So just who are these talented and tenacious Thoroughbreds? Find all the details on each Triple Crown winner listed below, a hallowed group that American Pharoah can join with a victory in the Belmont Stakes.
1.  Sir Barton (1919 Triple Crown winner)

Jockey: Johnny Loftus
Trainer: H. Guy Bedwell
Owner: J.K.L. Ross
Career record: 31-13-6-5
Career earnings: $116,857
Earnings in today’s dollars: $1,594,922
Pedigree: Star Shoot – Lady Sterling, by Hanover
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Sir Barton lost all of his six starts as a 2-year-old, and the Kentucky Derby was his 3-year-old debut, so he was a maiden until he won the Derby. The colt also won the Withers between the Preakness and Belmont, but would be overshadowed later that year with the emergence of 2-year-old Man o’ War, a horse many believe to be among the best of all time. Sir Barton was sold to the U.S Cavalry after his stud career and lived out his years on a Wyoming ranch.
2. Gallant Fox (1930)

Photo courtesy of Keeneland Library
Jockey: Earl Sande
Trainer: James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons
Owner: Belair Stud
Career record: 17-11-3-2
Career earnings: $328,165
Earnings in today’s dollars: $4,639,880
Pedigree: Sir Gallahad III – Marguerite, by Celt
Color: Bay
Fun facts: The Preakness was run before the Derby in 1930, and Gallant Fox won all three races in a 29-day span. He was sired by Sir Gallahad II, one of the first prominent European stallions imported to the U.S. Gallant Fox would become the first, and only, Triple Crown winner to sire a Triple Crown winner with his son Omaha.
3. Omaha (1935)

Jockey: Willie Saunders
Trainer: James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons
Owner: Belair Stud
Career record: 22-9-7-2
Career earnings: $154,755
Earnings in today’s dollars: $2,667,197
Pedigree: Gallant Fox – Flambino, by Wrack
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Like his sire, Gallant Fox, Omaha was a Triple Crown winner bred and owned by Belair Stud in Kentucky and trained by “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. Omaha lost the Withers after the Preakness, but rebounded to win the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. Omaha started his stud career in Kentucky but was moved to a farm in Nebraska in 1950. He was later buried at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben Race Track in Omaha.
4. War Admiral (1937)

Jockey: Charley Kurtsinger
Trainer: George H. Conway
Owner: Samuel Riddle
Career record: 26-21-3-1
Career earnings: $273,240
Earnings in today’s dollars: $4,480,358
Pedigree: Man o’ War – Brushup, by Sweep
Color: Dark brown
Fun facts: A son of the great Man o’ War, who skipped the Kentucky Derby but won the Preakness and Belmont, War Admiral captured the Triple Crown after stumbling and getting injured at the start of the Belmont. He famously lost a match race with Seabiscuit in 1938 but went on to sire 40 stakes winners from 320 starters, a remarkable 12.5 percent.
5. Whirlaway (1941)

Jockey: Eddie Arcaro
Trainer: Ben Jones
Owner: Calumet Farm
Career record: 60-32-15-9
Career earnings: $561,161
Earnings in today’s dollars: $9,013,658
Pedigree: Blenheim II – Dustwhirl, by Sweep
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Whirlaway finished in the money in each of his 42 starts as a 3- and 4-year-old, including the Triple Crown sweep, Travers Stakes, Brooklyn Handicap and Jockey Club Gold Cup. He was the first of eight Kentucky Derby winners and two Triple Crown winners for Calumet Farm, with a penchant for closing from the clouds. After his racing career, he was sold for stud duty to France.
6.  Count Fleet (1943)

Jockey: Johnny Longden
Trainer: Don Cameron
Owner: Fannie Hertz
Career record: 21-16-4-1
Career earnings: $250,300
Earnings in today’s dollars: $3,416,219
Pedigree: Reigh Count – Quickly, by Haste
Color: Brown
Fun facts: Count Fleet was almost sold before he made it to the races due to his gangly conformation, but he ended up winning 10 of 15 starts as a 2-year-old for his owner-breeder. He was undefeated as a 3-year-old, going off as the odds-on favorite in each of the Triple Crown races and winning the Belmont by 25 lengths. At stud, he sired two champions and Kentucky Derby winner Count Turf.
7. Assault (1946)

Photo courtesy of Keeneland Library
Jockey: Warren Mehrtens
Trainer: Max Hirsch
Owner: King Ranch
Career record: 42-18-6-8
Career earnings: $675,470
Earnings in today’s dollars: $8,176,041
Pedigree: Bold Venture – Igual, by Equipoise
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Nicknamed the “club-footed comet” due to a malformed right front hoof resulting from an injury as a foal, Assault went off at 8.20-to-1 in the Kentucky Derby but won by eight lengths. He continued to race until he was 7 years old after proving infertile at stud and later retired to King Ranch, the same place he was foaled.
8. Citation (1948)

Jockey: Eddie Arcaro
Trainer: Horace A. “Jimmy” Jones, though his father, Ben, was trainer of record for the Derby
Owner: Calumet Farm
Career record: 45-32-10-2
Career earnings: $1,085,760
Earnings in today’s dollars: $10,637,700
Pedigree: Bull Lea – Hydroplane, by Hyperion
Color: Bay
Fun facts: Citation won eight of nine starts as a 2-year-old and began his sophomore season with two wins over older horses. He faced just five others in the Kentucky Derby and 15 total in all three Triple Crown races, but completed his 3-year-old season with 19 victories from 20 starts. He became racing’s first millionaire in 1951.
9. Secretariat (1973)

Jockey: Ron Turcotte
Trainer: Lucien Laurin
Owner: Meadow Stable
Career record: 21-16-3-1
Career earnings: $1,316,808
Earnings in today’s dollars: $7,002,779
Pedigree: Bold Ruler – Somethingroyal, by Princequillo
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Secretariat was named Horse of the Year as a 2-year-old after winning eight of nine starts and was syndicated for a record $6.08-million early in his sophomore season. The chestnut colt lost the Wood Memorial but proceeded to set the stakes record in each of the three Triple Crown races, including an American record 2:24 in the Belmont, a race he won by 31 lengths. Belmont Park has since installed a blue and white pole 31 lengths from the finish line, signifying the magnitude of Secretariat’s win.
10. Seattle Slew (1977)

Jockey: Jean Cruguet
Trainer: William H. Turner, Jr.
Owner: Karen L. Taylor
Career record: 17-14-2-0
Career earnings: $1,208,726
Earnings in today’s dollars: $4,709,623
Pedigree: Bold Reasoning – My Charmer, by Poker
Color: Dark bay or brown
Fun facts: Seattle Slew is the only undefeated Triple Crown winner, suffering his first career defeat in his next race after the series, Hollywood Park’s Swaps Stakes. As a 4-year-old Seattle Slew won five of seven starts, including a win over fellow Triple Crown winner Affirmed in the 1978 Marlboro Cup. At stud, he sired Horse of the Year and prolific sire A.P. Indy and more than 100 other stakes winners.
11. Affirmed (1978)

Jockey: Steve Cauthen
Trainer: Laz Barrera
Owner: Harbor View Farm
Career record: 29-22-5-1
Career earnings: $2,393,818
Earnings in today’s dollars: $8,669,109
Pedigree: Exclusive Native – Won’t Tell You, by Crafty Admiral
Color: Chestnut
Fun facts: Affirmed’s rivalry with Alydar, the second-place finisher in each of the 1978 Triple Crown races, is one of the most famous rivalries in the sport. Though he lost to Seattle Slew in that year’s Marlboro Cup, Affirmed was named 1978 Horse of the Year, and he would duplicate that title in 1979 with six straight Grade 1 wins. He was the first $2-million earner in Thoroughbred racing.