How to Bet on the Canadian Triple Crown

The Canadian Triple Crown racing events are signature stakes in Ontario, Canada. Betting on the three horse races is part of the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation). We explain how to bet on the Canadian Triple Crown horse races and discuss previous Canadian Triple Crown winners.

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What Are the Canadian Triple Crown Races

The Canadian Triple Crown stakes events are the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Racetrack in August, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Race Track in September and the Breeders’ Stakes also at Woodbine in October. All three stakes races are open to three-year-old thoroughbreds of that year.

The Queen’s Plate (or King’s Plate) Stakes is run over a distance of 1¼ miles on the Tapeta surface at Woodbine. The prize purse for the Queen’s Plate is $1 million (Canadian). The Prince of Wales Stakes covers 1 3/16 miles on dirt at Fort Erie Race Track. This stakes race has a prize purse of $400,000 (Canadian). The final race of the Canadian Triple Crown is the Breeders’ Stakes and the race is 1½ miles on the turf track at Woodbine. This stakes race has a $500,000 (Canadian) prize purse.

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Popular Canadian Triple Crown Betting Markets

Canadian horse bettors can wager on the Win, Place or Show position for each of the Canadian Triple Crown stakes races. You can also wager “across the board” for the Win, Place and Show positions for all three Triple Crown events.

Horse bettors in Canada can wager on the first two horses for each Triple Crown stakes race and that bet is called the exacta. The trifecta wager is the first three horses and the superfecta is the first four horses to make it across the finish line.

There are Double Doubles, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5 wagers for the entire race card including the Canadian Triple Crown events of the day (Queen’s Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes and Breeders’ Stakes).

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Canadian Triple Crown Winners

There are 12 Canadian Triple Crown winners from 1932 to 2003. Queensway was the first thoroughbred horse to win the 1932 Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders’ Stakes as a three-year-old colt. Harry Gidding Jr. was his trainer and jockey Frankie Mann was aboard for each ride.

In 1933, Archworth won the Canadian Triple Crown with Mark Cowell as his trainer. The next horse to win the Canadian Triple Crown was Uttermost with Cecil Howard as his trainer in 1945.

Ace Marine (1955), Canadian Champ (1956), New Province (1959) and Canebora (1963) rounded out the 1950’s and 1960’s with Triple Crown wins in Canada. With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990), Dance Smartly (1991) and Peteski (1993) won their Canadian Triple Crown later in the 20th century.

The last Canadian Triple Crown winner was Wando and he placed first in the 2003 Queen’s Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders’ Stakes. Wando was trained by Mike Keogh and was ridden by jockey Patrick Husbands for all three stakes races.