Champion Fierceness Leads 346 Early Triple Crown Nominations

Feb 06, 2024 Kevin Kerstein

The anticipation for the 2024 Triple Crown is well underway as 346 of the world’s most promising 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, led by reigning 2-year-old champion and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I) winner Fierceness, were nominated to the three-race series for $600 during the first closing on Jan. 29.

The 2024 Triple Crown is set to open Saturday, May 4 with the 150th running of the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) over 1 ¼ miles at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The 149th running of the $1.5 million Preakness, at 1 3/16 miles, will take place two weeks later on Saturday, May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. This year’s 156th running of the $2 million Belmont Stakes, the series’ 1 ¼-mile final leg, will be run at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, June 8.

This year’s total of early Triple Crown nominees was down from last year’s 369 nominations. The nominees included many horses stabled around the world including a record 47 from Japan, 10 more than last year’s mark of 37.

Fierceness, one of Repole Stable’s 20 nominees to lead all owners, was one of 54 horses under the care of Todd Pletcher that nominated to the Triple Crown. He led all conditioners and was followed by Bob Baffert and Brad Cox with 18 each. Baffert’s trainees are only eligible for the Preakness and Belmont because horses under his care are ineligible to compete at Churchill Downs Incorporated-owned racetracks in 2024.

Overall, 44 stakes winners were nominated to the Triple Crown. Some of the most notable are Catching Freedom (Smarty Jones); Hades (Holy Bull); Honor Marie (Kentucky Jockey Club); Locked (Breeders’ Futurity); Mystik Dan (Southwest); Nysos (Robert B. Lewis); Track Phantom(Lecomte) and Uncle Heavy (Withers).

Early Triple Crown Nominees by the numbers:

• $2,300,000: Highest public auction purchase – Sierra Leone (2022 Fasig-Tipton August Sale)
• $1,127,250: Highest earnings of an individual horse nominated (Fierceness). The other top earners (as of Feb. 3): Muth ($716,600), Locked ($608,400), Candied ($595,800), Forever Young(JPN) ($569,451) and Mystik Dan ($510,110).
• $5,000: Lowest public auction purchase – Stretch Ride (2022 Fasig Tipton October Sale)
• 259: Number of Kentucky-bred horses. Other states represented are Florida (15), New York (13), California (7), Maryland (3), Pennsylvania (2), Colorado (1) Iowa (1), Indiana (1), Louisiana (1) and West Virginia (1).
• 159: Number of registered Bay horses. Other registered colors are Dark Bay or Brown (83), Chestnut (72), Gray or Roan (28), Gray (2), Brown (1) and White (1).
• 129: Number of trainers that nominated horses to the Triple Crown.
• 65: Number of unraced horses that nominated to the Triple Crown.
• 42: Horses foaled outside the United States. Other countries are Canada (1), Great Britain (1), Ireland (3) and Japan (37).
• 41: Horses who were foaled after Kentucky Derby Day (May 6).
• 16: Horses produced by sire Constitution. He’s followed by Gun Runner (14), Justify (14), Into Mischief (13), Arrogate (11), City of Light (11) and Curlin (11).
• 4: Fillies nominated. They are Candied, Gun Song, Life Talk and Kopion.

Three-year-olds that were not nominated to the Triple Crown during the early nomination phase can pay a late payment of $6,000 through Monday, April 1 on www.thetriplecrown.com.

Thirteen horses have swept the Triple Crown series: 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).

2024 Triple Crown Nominees (in alphabetical order):

(21)Bible Belt

(21)Cambiocorsa

(21)Excited

(21)Gaudete

(21)Lee Gage

(21)Mannerly

(21)Marseillaise

(21)Stellar Wind

(21) Walk of Stars

Acclaimed Victor

Agate Road

Aigle Noir (JPN)

Air Cav

Air It Out

Alotaluck

Amante Bianco (JPN)

American Hope

American Runner

American War Hero

And Uwish

Antiquarian

Antonio of Venice

Arare Tabashiru (JPN)

Ari's Magic

Awesome Road

Awesome Wind

Bail Us Out

Ballon d'Or (JPN)

Banned for Life

Barong

Baytown Bruiser

Baytown Chatterbox

Be You

Bear River

Bee Dancer

Bergen

Better Than Gold

Big City

Big Walt

Bisc Wizard (JPN)*

Bishop Creek

Blood Brother

Blue Eyed George

Blue Whirl

Bob John Ray

Boltage

Born Noble

Bricklayer

British Isles

Bushin

Call Sign (JPN)

Call the Cavalry

Candied

Can't You See

Capital Idea

Carbone

Cardinale

Carolo Rapido

Catalytic

Catching Freedom

Celebrate Yell (JPN)

Change of Command

Chaperone

Circle P

Classic Joke

Coach Prime

Coin Miner

Coinvest

Collmus

Colorado Cruiser

Common Defense

Conquest Warrior

Copper Tax

Cornell

Cornishman

Corporate Power

Count Dracula

Crazy Mason

Crimson Light

Crossfield

Crushed It

Curlin's Kaos

Daily Grind

Dancing Groom

Danon K Two (JPN)

Danon Pyrenees (JPN)

Dats My Pharaoh

Deposition

Derby Street

Deterministic

Dimatic

Direct Channel

Distant Sky

Django

Do Tap

Doc Sullivan

Domestic Product

Dornoch

D'oro Unbridled

Eagles Dare

Eclipse Ruban (JPN)

Ecoro Gaia

Edified

Eikai Soul (JPN)

El Grande O

El Magnifico

Eliminate

Elko County

Elysian Meadows

Encino

Endlessly

Enlighten

Epic Ride

Ethan Energy

Eusebius

Everdoit

Factor Analysis

Fausto

Feel the Magic

Fevrier (GB)

Fidget

Fierceness

Flashy Fast

Footprint

For Your Pleasure

Forever Young (JPN)

Foxhole

Freedom Principle

Fulmineo

Gaura Spark (JPN)*

George Tesoro (JPN)

Gettysburg Address

Give Me Liberty

Gonbade Qabus (JPN)

Good Bali

Good Money

Goodstone

Gran Orca

Grand Mo the First

Gun Barrel City

Gun Party

Gun Song

Habire (JPN)

Hades

Hall of Fame

Hawks Creek

Heartened

Heavenly Hand (JPN)

Held (JPN)

Henry Adams (IRE)

Hold the Phone

Honor Marie

Hortobagy (JPN)

Howard Wolowitz

Illuminare

Imagination

Imperial Gun

Indispensable

Informed Patriot

Into Aces

Inveigled

Iron Tap

It's My Life

J Dutton

Jasper Robusto

Jayhawk

Jefferson Street

Just a Touch

Just Before Dawn

Just Steel

Justifiably So

Justifreak

Juventus

Kanji

Kazu Vitosha (JPN)

Khanate

Killargue Vizzini

Killer Collect

Kitty Hawk

Knightsbridge

Kopion

Kurodabushi (JPN)

Laevateinn (JPN)

Lagynos

Lake Superior

Lambo

Lat Long

Le Gris

Legalize

Liberal Arts

Life Talk

Lightline

Linebacker

Linesman

Locked

Lord Bullingdon

Lucky Jeremy

Malarchuk

Malibu Rain

Malibu Rocks

Maravich

Marceau

Mardy's Fish

Market Street

Masherbrum (JPN)

Maximus Meridius

Maycocks Bay

Maymun

Mc Vay

McQueen

Melo's Boy

Mena

Mendelssohn Bay

Merit

Mikealicious

Mikki Fight (JPN)

Military Road

Mission Beach

Mister Lincoln

Mo Go

Money Magician

Moonlight

Moonlit Sonata

Mount Fuji

Mr Fabricator

Mr. McMahon

Muth

My Boy Prince

Mystik Dan

Nash

Native Land

Navy Seal (IRE)

Next Level

Ngannou

Nice and Good

No More Time

Normandy Landing

Northern Flame

Northshore Drive

Not Enough (JPN)

Noted

Nysos

Old Triangle

One Red Cent

Otello

Otto the Conqueror

Pandagate

Papa Linguine

Parchment Party

Perfectify

Phantom Speed

Pilot Commander

Pirate

Pony Express

Prince of Monaco

Prince of Power

Proprietary Trade

Protective

Puff (JPN)

Ramjet (JPN)

Real Macho

Real Men Violin

Rebellious Type

Record Time

Red Flyer

Refuel

Regalo

Resilience

Revised Statute

Reynolds Channel

Ridgewood Runner

Rocketeer

Ronaldinho

Roughshod

Satono Phoenix (JPN)

Scatify

Secret Crush

Seize the Grey

Seminole Chief

Sequential

Series

Sierra Leone

Skip the Line

Slider

Snead

Sneak Preview

Society Man

Speak Easy

Special Dispatch

Speed Runner

Startswithadream

Sticky McShnickens

Stoke the Fire

Stolen Magic

Strait Rush

Strategic Decision

Strength (JPN)

Stretch Ride

Stronghold

Sturdy

Sunrise Earth (JPN)

Sunrise Soleil (JPN)

T O Drucker (JPN)

T O Password (JPN)

Taif

Taisei Real (JPN)

Tapit'staleofverve

Taraj (IRE)

Tejon Pass

Tennessee

Tessuto

The Wine Steward

Thousand Springs

Timberlake

Time for Truth

Tireless

Tizzy Indy

Tommy Two Socks

Top Conor

Tornado Road

Track Phantom

Trikari

Triple Espresso

Triple Pass

Troublemeister

Turn Up the Trees

Tuscan Gold

Tuscan Sky

Twirling Point

Two Tons of Fun

Unbridled Vision

Uncle Heavy

Victory Avenue

Vino Lux

Vote No

Waitlist

Warhol

Warring Thunder

We Live This Game

West Saratoga

Wide Blizzard (JPN)

Windfall (JPN)

Wine Me Up

Winterfell

Wynstock

Y Y Legend (JPN)

 

*Bisc Wizard and Guara Spark, both unraced horses based in Japan, will have their official profiles loaded at a later date on any past performance files.