Triple Crown Nominations by the Numbers

There are 367 3-year-olds early-nominated to the 2026 Triple Crown. Nominations closed Jan. 26.

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher leads all trainers with 31 nominees, followed by Bob Baffert (23), Chad Brown (22), Brad Cox (21) and Japan-based Daisuke Takayanagi (14).

Nominations include 37 from Japan, led by Godolphin's Japan-Road Kentucky Derby points leader Pyromancer, winner of the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun.

Last year there were 373 early nominees and five late nominations.

By The Numbers:

·   281 – Kentucky-bred nominees, most of any state. Others: Japan (37), New York (11), Florida (10), California (7), Pennsylvania (5), Ireland (3), Maryland (3), Virginia (3), Indiana (2), Ontario (2), Great Britain (1), Louisiana (1), Minnesota (1) and New Jersey (1).

·   171 bay horses. Other colors: dark bay/brown (84), chestnut (68), gray/roan (42) and gray (3).

·   127 – Trainers with horses nominated to the Triple Crown.

·   55 – Stakes winners nominated. 19 graded stakes winners.

·   16 – Horses sired by Not This Time, the most of any stallion. Others: Gun Runner (15), Into Mischief (14), Nyquist (14), Constitution (13) and Maxfield (12).

·   11 – Fillies Nominated: Bella Ballerina (trainer Brendan Walsh), Belle of the Barn (Caio Caramori), Counting Stars (Mark Casse), Dancin in Old Town (Keith Desormeaux), Energy Issei (JPN) (Daisuke Takayanagi), Goldmunze (JPN) (Daisuke Takayanagi), Perfect Town (Steve Asmussen), Ten Time Top (JPN) (Daisuke Takayanagi), Tokai Ma Cherie (JPN) (Daisuke Takayanagi), Unnatamsa (JPN) (Daisuke Takayanagi) and Zany (Todd Pletcher).

·   Jan. 1, 2023 – Earliest foal among nominees: Star Ship (JPN).

·   May 24, 2023 – Latest foals among nominees: Silver Prince.

Three-year-olds not nominated during the early phase can still join the Triple Crown trail by making a late payment of $6,000 by Monday, April 6 at www.thetriplecrown.com.

Thirteen horses have swept the Triple Crown: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018).