What Is the Canadian Triple Crown? King's Plate, Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes

The Canadian Triple Crown wrapped up its 2026 season on Sunday, Sept. 27, with a front-running upset. Fire and Wine, sent off at 11-1, led every step of the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine and won by four lengths. His win meant three different horses took the three races, and Canada's wait for a sweep goes on.

What Is the Canadian Triple Crown?

The Canadian Triple Crown is a series of three races for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds foaled in Canada: the King's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes. A horse that wins all three is a Triple Crown winner, and that has happened only a dozen times in history.

What makes it unusual is that each leg is run on a different surface, and the series uses two tracks:

1. King's Plate: Woodbine (Toronto), on the synthetic Tapeta main track
2. Prince of Wales Stakes: Fort Erie Race Track (in Ontario's Niagara region), on dirt
3. Breeders' Stakes: back at Woodbine, on the E.P. Taylor turf course

The series was formally named in 1959. Fillies can run against the colts in all three races, and they often do.

How Fire and Wine Won the 2026 Breeders' Stakes

Fire and Wine broke from post 3 in a field of six, took the lead under jockey Jalon Samuel and never gave it up. He covered the 1½ miles on firm turf in 2:30.57. Bond Market was second, Buium third and Imyourmedicineman fourth.

The favourite, Katie's Grace, was the only filly in the field. She trailed early and finished fifth.

A few details make this a good racing story:

• A $5,000 bargain. Canadian Thoroughbred reports the Ontario-bred colt was bought for $5,000. He's by Lexitonian out of the mare Double Latte.
• He'd shown talent before. At 2 he won the 2025 Coronation Futurity at Woodbine by five lengths, leading all the way.
• A tough summer. He set the early pace at 61-1 in the King's Plate and hung on for third, then ran fifth in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.
• An equipment change. He ran without blinkers on Sunday. Trainer Zeljko Krcmar told BloodHorse the colt keeps going when he's alone in front but backs off when another horse pressures him.

Samuel, who comes from Barbados, called it the biggest win of his career. The colt runs for owner Paul Ryder. He now has 3 wins from 13 starts.

A note on the purse: reports differ because of how it's counted. The race has a C$400,000 base purse, which is what Woodbine's race-day recap listed. In July, Woodbine said the race would be worth $500,000 including a $100,000 bonus for Ontario-breds, and that's the figure the Canadian Press used.

The Three Races, Leg by Leg

For reference, 1¼ miles is about 2,000 metres and 1½ miles about 2,400 metres.

King's Plate: the crown jewel

The King's Plate was first run in 1860 and is Canada's oldest and most prestigious Thoroughbred race. It's named for the reigning monarch, so it was the Queen's Plate until it became the King's Plate in 2023. The 2026 edition, on Aug. 15, was the 167th running and carried a $1 million purse.

Prince of Wales Stakes: the dirt test

The Prince of Wales Stakes dates to 1929 and moved to Fort Erie in 1959, when it joined the series. The 2026 edition, the 91st, was run on Labour Day, Sept. 7, for a $400,000 purse ($500,000 including a $100,000 bonus for eligible Ontario-breds).

Breeders' Stakes: the marathon on grass

The Breeders' Stakes is the longest leg at 1½ miles, run on turf. By late September, horses have had two hard races in about six weeks. Stamina and a liking for grass matter more here than raw speed.

Who Won the 2026 Canadian Triple Crown Races?

• King's Plate (Aug. 15): Luster. The roan filly won by 7¼ lengths in 2:02.01 for trainer Josie Carroll and jockey John Velazquez. She had already won the Woodbine Oaks by 5½ lengths on July 19. Military Time was second and Fire and Wine third.
• Prince of Wales Stakes (Sept. 7): Military Time. The favourite, a son of Gun Runner, ran down Brachetto to win by a half-length under 22-year-old Fraser Aebly. His trainer is Mark Casse. Luster skipped the race.
• Breeders' Stakes (Sept. 27): Fire and Wine. Neither Luster nor Military Time ran.

So nobody even tried for the sweep. That's common: many trainers pick the one or two legs that suit their horse best.

Why Sweeping It Is So Rare

Canadian Thoroughbred counts 12 Triple Crown winners. Seven have won since the series was formally named in 1959. Five earlier horses were added to the list in 2014, including the filly Queensway (1932).

The modern winners are:

• New Providence (1959)
• Canebora (1963)
• With Approval (1989)
• Izvestia (1990)
• Dance Smartly (1991), the only filly to sweep since 1959
• Peteski (1993)
• Wando (2003), the most recent

Trainer Roger Attfield won three of them (With Approval, Izvestia and Peteski). Here's why a sweep is so hard:

1. Three surfaces. A horse that loves synthetic footing may hate dirt, and a dirt horse may not handle grass. Winning on all three takes an unusually versatile horse.
2. Short gaps. In 2026 the legs ran about three weeks apart, which is little time to recover from a classic-distance race.
3. Rising distance. The series goes from 1¼ miles up to 1½ miles, and most 3-year-olds have never run that far.
4. Horses skip legs. Owners and trainers often plan for a horse's long-term career rather than all three races.

New to racing terms like "classic" or "maiden"? Our glossary has short definitions.

Canadian Triple Crown vs. U.S. Triple Crown

The two series look alike on paper. Both are built on the three classic distances, 1¼, 1 3/16 and 1½ miles, in that order. The U.S. races are the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. (While Belmont Park is rebuilt, the Belmont has been run at Saratoga at 1¼ miles since 2024.)

Here's where they differ:

• Who can run. The U.S. races are open to 3-year-olds from any country. In Canada, only Canadian-foaled horses can enter.
• Surface. The U.S. Triple Crown is run on dirt. Canada switches from synthetic to dirt to turf.
• Season. The U.S. series runs in spring, from early May to June. Canada's ran from mid-August to late September in 2026, which gives young horses more time to mature.
• Winners. Thirteen horses have won the U.S. Triple Crown, most recently Justify in 2018. Canada has 12, including the 2014 additions.

Want to know how these races are ranked? See what a Grade 1 race is.

What to Watch Next

The 2026 series is over, but the path to next year's races starts now.

• This fall's 2-year-olds. Next summer's contenders are racing at Woodbine as juveniles now. Fire and Wine won the Coronation Futurity at 2, a year before this win. Our guide to two-year-old racehorses explains why those races matter.
• The 2027 dates. Watch Woodbine's and Fort Erie's websites for next year's schedule.
• The Woodbine Oaks. It's the big summer race for Canadian-foaled fillies, and it's where Luster showed she was ready for the Plate.
• The Breeders' Cup. For North America's biggest fall racing, see our Breeders' Cup 2026 guide.

If you're heading to the track, here's a quick checklist:

1. Arrive early and watch the horses walk in the paddock before each race. It's the best place to see them up close.
2. Watch for sweat, calm ears and a relaxed walk. Our behavior guide explains what those signs mean.
3. Bring kids to the rail, not the barn area. Racehorses are fit and quick, so keep a safe distance (safety basics).

If racing gets you curious about the Thoroughbred itself, start with our breeds section.