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50 free Triple Crown trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Triple Crown is the hardest prize in American horse racing: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, run within five weeks by three-year-olds. Only 13 horses have ever swept all three. This quiz covers every winner from Sir Barton in 1919 to Justify in 2018, the jockeys and trainers behind them, the near-misses that broke hearts at Belmont, and the roses, black-eyed Susans and carnations that make each race its own event. Every answer is sourced and explained, so you leave knowing why Secretariat's Belmont still stands as the greatest race ever run.
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Q 01Which horse in 1919 became the first winner of the American Triple Crown?
Sir Barton
He won his season debut as a maiden in the Kentucky Derby, then swept the other two races before anyone called it a Triple Crown.
Q 02The term "Triple Crown" was first used when which horse swept the three races in 1930?
Gallant Fox
The New York Times applied the phrase to his sweep, though it did not catch on widely until his son repeated the feat five years later.
Q 03Which 1935 Triple Crown winner was the son of the previous winner?
Omaha
He is the only Triple Crown winner sired by another Triple Crown winner, and he went on to narrowly lose England's Ascot Gold Cup at four.
Q 04Which 1937 Triple Crown winner lost the 1938 "Match Race of the Century" to Seabiscuit?
War Admiral
Despite the famous defeat, he won 21 of 26 starts and became a leading sire whose blood runs through American Pharoah and Justify.
Q 05Which 1941 Triple Crown winner was nicknamed "Mr. Longtail"?
Whirlaway
His unusually long, thick tail streamed out behind him in races. He is also the only horse to add the Travers Stakes to a Triple Crown sweep.
Q 06Which 1943 winner took the Belmont Stakes by a then-record 25 lengths?
Count Fleet
He never lost a race at three and was named 1943 Horse of the Year after an undefeated season.
Q 07Which 1946 Triple Crown winner is the only one bred in Texas?
Assault
He shares the record for the largest Kentucky Derby winning margin, eight lengths, with the 1941 winner.
Q 08Which 1948 Triple Crown winner was the first horse to win US$1,000,000 in earnings?
Citation
He also ran off 16 consecutive stakes wins, a streak that stood as a benchmark for decades.
Q 09Which 1977 winner was the first to take the Triple Crown while undefeated?
Seattle Slew
As an awkward foal he was nicknamed Baby Huey and some said he looked like a mule. Only Justify has since matched the undefeated feat.
Q 10Which 1978 winner beat rival Alydar into second place in all three Triple Crown races?
Affirmed
The two met ten times in total. After his sweep there was a 37-year wait for the next Triple Crown winner.
Q 11Which horse ended a 37-year drought by winning the Triple Crown in 2015?
American Pharoah
He then added the Breeders' Cup Classic, becoming the first horse to complete the modern Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing.
Q 12Which horse became the 13th American Triple Crown winner in 2018?
Justify
He was the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a two-year-old.
Q 13By how many lengths did Secretariat win the 1973 Belmont Stakes?
31
His 2:24 for a mile and a half remains the American dirt record, and the race is widely called the greatest ever run by a Thoroughbred.
Q 21Secretariat was syndicated before his three-year-old season for what record sum?
$6.08 million
Thirty-two shares sold at $190,000 each, beating Nijinsky's previous record, on the condition that he retire at the end of the year.
Q 22In which state was Secretariat foaled?
Virginia
He was born just after midnight on Easter Monday 1970 at Meadow Stable in Doswell, and stood when he was 45 minutes old.
Q 23Which racetrack hosts the Kentucky Derby?
Churchill Downs
The Louisville track was named for John and Henry Churchill, who provided the land, though the name only became official in 1937.
Q 14What was Secretariat's famous nickname?
Big Red
Exercise rider Jim Gaffney gave him the name; he was a bright-red chestnut with three white socks and a star.
Q 15Who rode Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown?
Ron Turcotte
The Canadian jockey also won the 1972 Kentucky Derby on Riva Ridge, making him one of the few to win the Derby in back-to-back years.
Q 16What winning time did Secretariat post in the 1973 Belmont Stakes?
2:24
The 2:24 for a mile and a half set Belmont and world dirt records for the distance, and through 2025 no Belmont winner had come within a second of it.
Q 17Who trained Secretariat?
Lucien Laurin
Laurin once grumbled that the colt "can't outrun a fat man" before the big chestnut started to show his speed in workouts.
Q 18Which woman ran Meadow Stable and raced Secretariat?
Penny Chenery
She took over the stable when her father fell ill in 1968 and arranged the breeding; on first seeing the foal she wrote one word in her notebook: "Wow!"
Q 19Secretariat was named after a department of which organization?
The League of Nations
Stable secretary Elizabeth Ham suggested the name from her former job; the first batch of proposed names had all been rejected by the Jockey Club.
Q 20Which stallion sired Secretariat?
Bold Ruler
Secretariat's dam was Somethingroyal; the colt came to Meadow Stable only because Penny Chenery lost a coin toss for first pick of the foals.
Q 24The Preakness Stakes is traditionally run at which Baltimore track?
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico opened in 1870; the race was first run there in 1873, two years before the first Kentucky Derby.
Q 25Over what distance is the Belmont Stakes traditionally run at Belmont Park?
1 1/2 miles
It is the longest of the three races, hence the Test of the Champion; one full lap of Belmont Park. While the park was rebuilt in 2024-26 the race ran at Saratoga over 1 1/4 miles.
Q 26How long is the Kentucky Derby?
1 1/4 miles
The race was first run at a mile and a half, matching the Epsom Derby, and was shortened to ten furlongs in 1896.
Q 27The Kentucky Derby is known by what floral nickname?
The Run for the Roses
The winner is draped in a blanket of 554 red roses; the tradition traces to an 1883 post-Derby party where roses were handed to the ladies.
Q 28The Belmont Stakes winner is draped in a blanket of which flower?
White carnations
About 700 flowers imported from Colombia go into the 40-pound blanket, earning the race the nickname Run for the Carnations.
Q 29The Preakness winner receives a blanket made to look like which Maryland state flower?
Black-eyed Susans
The real flower does not bloom until late June, so yellow flowers are daubed with black lacquer to imitate it.
Q 30In what year was the first Kentucky Derby run?
1875
Aristides won the inaugural running before an estimated 10,000 people; the Derby has been held every single year since.