2023 Triple Crown Final Results
None of the Morning Line Odds favorites won their respective Triple Crown races this year. Mage was the only horse eligible for the Triple Crown in 2023, but ended up coming in third place in the Preakness Stakes. Now that all three races are in the books, here's a table showing each leg's favorite to win and the actual winner.
The original Kentucky Derby favorite, Forte, was scratched the morning of the race. Of all three races, the Belmont Stakes has the longest track at 12 furlongs.
Looking Back at 2023 Triple Crown Odds
At the beginning of Triple Crown season, Kentucky Derby hero Mage was the only horse capable of going all the way. However, those hopes were dashed at the Preakness Stakes when National Treasure beat out Mage. So Kentucky racing bettors will have to wait until 2024 to see if another horse can capture the elusive Triple Crown.
Mage cashed in on the late scratching of favorite Forte, who had twice beaten Mage in the build-up to Churchill Downs, by running out a commanding one-length winner of the Kentucky Derby under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.
Triple Crown Betting Odds To Watch
All 18 horses that went to post in the 149th Kentucky Derby would have been dreaming of Triple Crown glory, but just over 2 minutes after the gates opened at Churchill Downs, the dream was only still alive for one horse: Mage. That was the longest trip that Mage had run over.
Now, since all three races are done for 2023, Kentucky horse racing bettors will have to wait until next Triple Crown season in 2024.
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Qualifying For The Triple Crown
To become a Triple Crown hero, a horse must win all three jewels in the crown. Those jewels are the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and finally the Belmont Stakes. All three races are Grade 1 contests for three-year-olds only, and all three take play between the first Saturday in May and mid-June each year.
In 2023, a total of 369 three-year-olds were made eligible for the Triple Crown series via a $600 payment to compete in each of the three races. As many as 20 horses, who have earned qualifying points in a series of high-profile prep races, earned a shot at the Kentucky Derby.
Eligibility for the Preakness Stakes, which is limited to 14 horses (6 less than the Kentucky Derby) is determined by earnings in previous races. However, there are a handful of "Win and You're In" Preakness prep races like the Federico Tesio Stakes, Oaklawn Invitational and the El Camino Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
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Reviewing 2023 Triple Crown Top Contenders
The Triple Crown is the ultimate test of a three-year-old thoroughbred. The three Triple Crown races all take place within a five-week period which means that not only does any Triple Crown contender need to be top-class in terms of ability, he needs to be constitutionally bombproof. There is not a great deal of time between each Triple Crown race so the ability to recover quickly from the previous contest is crucial.
Versatility is also a huge factor. A Triple Crown winner needs to have the speed to cope with the 9.5 furlongs of the Preakness Stakes as well as the stamina to see out the 12f at the huge Belmont Park in the final leg.
Looking Back at Triple Crown 2023 Predictions
All eyes were on Mage, who saw out the distance strongly in the Kentucky Derby. Mage was a +200 Preakness Stakes favorite before the race, but he ultimately fell short vs. winner National Treasure.
Only 23 horses have completed the Kentucky Derby/Preakness Stakes double, highlighting just how difficult the task is.
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How To Bet on the 2023 Triple Crown
The Triple Crown attracts more than $300 million in wagers each year with horse racing apps, and that number is rising fast thanks to the proliferation of online sports betting in Kentucky and across the US.
Each leg of the Triple Crown has its own betting markets, and, within those, players have a number of betting options including win, place, and show bets. Before the 2023 Kentucky Derby was run, Las Vegas casinos offered +650 odds that any horse would go on to win the Triple Crown.
🔥 Learn More: How to Bet on Sports in Kentucky
Triple Crown Betting Types
There are various ways to bet on outright Triple Crown betting odds for each individual race.
When it comes to betting on the Triple Crown itself, most Kentucky betting apps offer the option of betting "any horse to win the Triple Crown" or, once the Kentucky Derby has been run, betting the winner to go on and join the elite of US horse racing.
Their individual races themselves provide a whole host of betting opportunities, whether it be in the outright markets or one of the many prop bets that sportsbooks will make available on the day of the race.
How to Read Triple Crown Odds
Ahead of the Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown odds are normally published in the form of a single price (+650 in 2023) about "any horse to win the Triple Crown." Betting will then be available for each individual Triple Crown race, with the outcome of the previous race often having a major bearing on the odds.
Race prices are generally published in list form, beginning with the race favorite (shortest odds) and ending with the outsider (longest odds).
🔥 Learn More: How to Read Odds & Lines
Triple Crown Pari-Mutuel Betting System
Pari-mutuel betting enables players to bet into a pool in which odds are reflective of the amount bet into the pool on that particular runner. The more money bet on a runner in any horse race, the shorter its odds will be, and vice versa.
Pari-mutuel betting can often be more rewarding than betting fixed odds, especially when playing an outsider, but there is always a danger of lower returns, so there is an element of risk involved.
There is Pari-mutuel betting on each individual leg of the Triple Crown, and the pool opens in the build-up to each race.
It is often best to wait as long as possible before placing a Pari-mutuel wager because the greater the liquidity in the pool, the more accurate the prices will be compared to the closing price. Make sure to keep an eye out for the best Kentucky sportsbook promos before you make your wager!
Triple Crown Futures Betting
Triple Crown futures betting via a racebook like TwinSpires Horse Racing will make plenty of appeal to those punters who think that the odds of their selection are going to shorten by post time, providing them with a "value bet."
Futures betting is a risky business because it is not even certain that the selection will even be declared to run, and if it doesn't, the bet will be settled as a loser.
Nevada casinos published futures betting on a potential Triple Crown winner before the Kentucky Derby.
Triple Crown Prop Bets
Prop bets will only tend to be available on the individual Triple Crown races. The best horse racing apps offer a whole host of these on the day of each big race.
Some of the prop bets available are:
- ⭐️ Winning distance spreads: You can bet on how much (measured in lengths) the first horse will win by
- 🏆 Head-to-head matchups: You can bet on whether one horse will beat out another individual horse
- ⏱️ Winning time: You can bet the over/under
- 📊 Winning odds: You can bet the over/under
- 🐎 Novelty bets relating to horse names: If three or more horses in the race begin with the same letter, you may see a market like, "Will the winner's name begin with X?"
Triple Crown Betting Strategy
Every once in a while a superstar three-year-old comes along that looks capable of winning a Triple Crown. It may not have been obvious in the qualification races, as was the case with Mage, but he was firmly in command close home in the Kentucky Derby.
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Triple Crown Races
The three races that make up the Triple Crown each provide their own unique test of a Dirt horse. All Grade 1 contests worth at least $1 million, they are some of the most prestigious horse races in the sport and only an outstanding thoroughbred can join the list of Triple Crown winners.
The first Triple Crown winner was Sir Barton in 1919, and 13 horses have completed the historical treble in all.
Kentucky Derby
The first leg of the Triple Crown series is the Kentucky Derby, and it takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first or second Saturday in May.
The Derby, which brings to a close the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, is known as "The Run for the Roses" as the winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses.
The Derby is the most watched and most attended of not only all Triple Crown events but also any horse racing contest in the United States.
First run in 1875, no horse has run the 12f Kentucky Derby faster than the great Secretariat who set a monster time of 1:59.4 in 1973.
2023 winner Mage became only the third horse to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a two-year-old.
Preakness Stakes
Inaugurated in 1873, the Preakness Stakes is named after a colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico.
The middle leg of the Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes is the shortest of the trio of contests at 9.5 furlongs, a full two and a half furlongs shorter than the Belmont Stakes.
National Treasure's 2023 win made Hall of Famer Bob Baffer the most decorated trainer in Preakness Stakes history with eight wins. 2004 winner Smarty Jones holds the record for the biggest winning margin at 11.5 lengths.
Belmont Stakes
The oldest and final of the Triple Crown races is the the Belmont Stakes. It is the race that decides Triple Crown heroes.
Arcangelo (7-1) bested favorite Forte to win the Belmont in 2023, five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three after the Preakness Stakes.
The race, nicknamed "The Test of the Champion" because it is the longest of the three Triple Crown races, covers a full lap of the vast Belmont Park racetrack, which is the biggest in North America.
As is the case with all three races, Secretariat holds the race record, as well as holding the record for the biggest winning margin, which stands at a ridiculous 31 lengths. Twenty-three horses missed their chance at a Triple Crown by not winning the Belmont. Eight of these finished second: Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958), Forward Pass (1968), Majestic Prince (1969), Sunday Silence (1989), Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), and Smarty Jones (2004).
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History of the Triple Crown
The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950, is awarded to the horse that wins all three of the Grade 1 horse races in the series.
13 horses have been crowned Triple Crown winner, beginning with Sir Barton in 1919 and most recently Justify in 2018. As of 2023, Justify is the only living Triple Crown winner. Fellow Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is the only horse to have also won the Breeders' Cup Classic in the same year (2015), a feat now known as the Grand Slam.
Each Triple Crown race is open to both Colts and fillies. Although fillies have won each of the individual Triple Crown races, none has won the Triple Crown itself. Geldings have won each of the individual races, but like fillies, no gelding has ever won the Triple Crown. The closest was Funny Cide, who won the Derby and the Preakness in 2003.
The mighty Secretariat holds the stakes record time for each of the three races. His time of 2:24 for 12f in the 1973 Belmont Stakes also set a world record that still stands. Bob Baffert became the second trainer to win the Triple Crown more than once, training American Pharoah and Justify.
Notable Triple Crown Winners
In all, 13 horses have been crowned a Triple Crown winner, the most recent being Justify who was sent off favorite for every one of his six career starts, all of which he won for trainer Bob Baffert.
American Pharoah ended a 37-year wait for a Triple Crown winner when he landed the three Triple Crown events in 2015.
It is 50 years since the legendary Secretariat broke all three track records en route to cementing his place in horse racing folklore.
Gallant Fox is the only Triple Crown winner to sire another U.S. Triple Crown winner, Omaha.
Jockey Julie Krone became the first (and currently only) woman to win a Triple Crown race when she won the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair.
Notable Triple Crown Records
No Triple Crown race has been won in a quicker time than Secretariat, when he posted his utterly dominant 1973 campaign. Indeed his 31-length in the Belmont Stakes not only remains a record, it is unlikely to ever be surpassed.
Jim Fitzsimmons and Bob Baffert are the only two trainers to have two horses win the Triple Crown, with Fitzsimmons training the sire/son combination of 1930 winner Gallant Fox and 1935 winner Omaha, and Baffert training 2015 winner American Pharoah and 2018 winner Justify.
At 18, Steve Cauthen became the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown, riding Affirmed in 1978. The opposite end of the scale, 52-year-old Mike Smith became the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown, riding Justify in 2018.
Triple Crown Odds FAQ
Author
Gavin Beech is a writer and contributor for BetKentucky.com and has worked in the betting industry for almost 20 years. Gavin is an experienced horse racing journalist, sports betting content writer and tipster. He has worked for some of the biggest online operators around, notably MailOnline and the Racing Post, where he is a regular on the Live Tipster slot.
