Fillies That Have Won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes or Belmont Stakes

Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Preakness Stakes Winner and Mother (Dam)

Most horses that run (and win) in the triple-crown races – Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes – are colts. Colts are male horses under the age of four. Past four, male (adult) horses are called “stallions” or just plain old “horses.” All 11 triple-crown winners have been colts.

Fillies are female horses usually under the age of four, but for the sake of horse racing, that limit is pushed up a year to five. Adult female horses are called “mares.”

Compared to the number of colts, very few fillies have raced in the Derby or the two Stakes, and even fewer have won. The number of filly entrants for each are noted below along with the winners.

Rachel Alexandra was the last filly to win any of the three races – she won the Preakness in 2009. In 2007, Rags to Riches won the Belmont.

The last filly to win the Kentucky Derby was almost 30 years ago – Winning Colors in 1988. She may be the last one ever to win the Run for the Roses, thanks to the current qualification rules. This seems unfair and doesn’t make much sense, either. If fillies have qualified and won in the past, it is proven that they can compete with the colts and so should be allowed to continue to compete.

So, why? “Why do fillies appear so rarely in the U.S. Triple Crown races?” asked Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post. Two reasons: the difference in the rate of biological development between the sexes and, as is often the case with just about everything in pro sports, money. Beyer breaks down everything you need to know in “Where Are the Fillies?”

Horse racing fan? For more, check out Sports List of the Day’s Horse Racing Page.

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KENTUCKY DERBY (39 Fillies Have Raced, 3 Winners)

	HORSE	YEAR	TRAINER	JOCKEY	TIME
1.	Winning Colors	1988	D. Wayne Lukas	Gary Stevens	2:02.20
2.	Genuine Risk	1980	LeRoy Jolley	Jacinto Vasquez	2:02.00
3.	Regret	1915	James G. Rowe, Sr.	Joe Notter	2:05.40

PREAKNESS STAKES (53 Fillies Have Raced, 5 Winners)

	HORSE	YEAR	TRAINER	JOCKEY	TIME
1.	Rachel Alexandra	2009	Steve Asmussen	Calvin Borel	1:55.08
2.	Nellie Morse	1924	Albert B. Gordon	John Merimee	1:57.20
3.	Rhine Maiden	1915	Frank Devers	Douglas Hoffman	1:58.00
4.	Whimsical	1906	Tim J. Gaynor	Walter Miller	1:45.00
5.	Flocarline	1903	H.C. Riddle	William Gannon	1:44.80

BELMONT STAKES (22 Fillies Have Raced, 3 Winners)

	HORSE	YEAR	TRAINER	JOCKEY	TIME
1.	Rags to Riches	2007	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	2:28.74
2.	Tanya	1905	John W. Rogers	Gene Hildebrand	2:08.00
3.	Ruthless	1867	A. Jack Minor	Gilbert Patrick	3:05.00

Sources: horse-races.net / horse-races.net / horse-races.net / about.com

Photos: nydailynews.com / fallen-leaves.net

Horse Racing: Horses that Won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, but Lost the Belmont

I’ll Have Another Arrives at Belmont Park

The “Triple Crown” wasn’t officially recognized as such until 1930, off the fingers of “Daily Racing Form writer Charles Hatton.”

But we can still go back through the archives and see which horses won all three races – Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – as far back as 1875, when all three were first in simultaneous existence, though not really connected.

Only 1 horse, Sir Barton, won pre-1930 what would later be know as the Triple Crown. Sir Barton won in 1919 and is one of 11 triple crown winning horses.

Almost twice as many times – 21 – a thoroughbred has won the first two legs of the Crown – only to drop the Belmont.

So, every few years or so (or even three years in a row 1997-1999), the general public, horse-racing aficionados and blue bloods get all up in a lather waiting to see if THIS is the year we’ll have another triple crown winner.

Which group will I’ll Have Another join?

We’ll find out on Saturday, June 9th, at the Belmont Stakes.

Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.

UPDATED LIST: Since the post above was originally written on May 21, 2012, to more horses – I’ll Have Another in 2012 and California Chrome in 2014 – won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but failed to take home the Belmont Stakes, and thus the triple, crown. In total now, 23 horses have just missed the triple crown after winning the first two races.

2014	California Chrome
2012	I’ll Have Another
2008	Big Brown
2004	Smarty Jones
2003	Funny Cide
2002	War Emblem
1999	Charismatic
1998	Real Quiet
1997	Silver Charm
1989	Sunday Silence
1987	Alysheba
1981	Pleasant Colony
1979	Spectacular Bid
1971	Canonero II
1969	Majestic Prince
1968	Forward Pass
1966	Kauai King
1964	Northern Dancer
1961	Carry Back
1958	Tim Tam
1944	Pensive
1936	Bold Venture
1932	Burgoo King

Photo: abcnews.com