Racing · Heritage series
The SA Triple Crown.
Three Classic races. Eight weeks. The clearest measure of class, progression and stamina in South African three-year-old racing — and the proudest heritage series on the Highveld calendar.
The series.
South Africa’s only Triple Crown.
The South African Triple Crown is a series of three Classic races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, all run at Turffontein across eight weeks of The Championships season. Modern in structure, but rooted in long-established ideals, it remains the clearest measure of class, progression and stamina — and a test that only four horses have ever mastered.
Heritage
From Colesberg, 1920, to Malmoos, 2021.
The original South African Triple Crown comprised the Benoni Guineas (1600m), the SA Derby (2400m) and the Benoni St Leger (2700m). The first three-year-old to sweep the series was Colesberg (Wilfrid) in 1920 — and remarkably, he started a run of four consecutive winners: Dignitary in 1921, Antonio in 1922 and Red Ronald in 1923. The modern Triple Crown format was implemented in 1999 and comprises the 1600m Gauteng Guineas, 1800m SA Classic and 2450m SA Derby — and sits on the Turffontein programme as the heritage centrepiece of The Championships.
Turffontein racecourseThe three legs.
Gauteng Guineas · SA Classic · SA Derby — eight weeks at Turffontein.
TAB Gauteng Guineas
Where it all begins. The Gauteng Guineas evolved from the old Newmarket Guineas, and was nominated, alongside the Gr1 Cape Argus Guineas, as the first leg of the modern SA Triple Crown in 1999 when the modern Triple Crown format was adopted.
HKJC World Pool SA Classic
Today's SA Classic developed from the Benoni Guineas, originally conducted over 1600m at Gosforth Park. The distance was increased to 1800m in 1982 and the race relocated to Turffontein after the closure of Gosforth Park.
TAB SA Derby
The final test. The SA Derby traces its roots back to Port Elizabeth in 1885. By the turn of the century the race had relocated to Turffontein, which has become its permanent home and it remains one of South Africa's oldest and most prestigious racing events.
South African Triple Crown winners.
Four horses. One hundred years in pursuit of the extraordinary.
Horse Chestnut
The only winner of the modern series to achieve victory across three different venues — Cape Argus Guineas at Kenilworth, SA Classic at Gosforth Park, SA Derby at Turffontein.
Louis The King
Fifteen years after Horse Chestnut, Louis van der Vyver's colt swept all three legs at Turffontein for trainer Geoff Woodruff and jockey Robbie Fradd.
Abashiri
Mr & Mrs Adriaan van Vuuren's Go Deputy colt lifted the crown in 2016 for trainer Michael Azzie and jockey Karl Zechner.
Malmoos
2021 saw Mike de Kock add a second Triple Crown to his CV, this time for the late Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Luke Ferraris became the first apprentice rider to win the series.
The test
Three distances. Eight weeks. One generation.
The Triple Crown requires a truly versatile three-year-old to master three distances — a mile, nine furlongs and a mile-and-a-half — inside an eight-week window. It is the ultimate test of a three-year-old in South Africa, and the reason only four horses have ever achieved it. The fillies' equivalent, the SA Triple Tiara, is run on the same days at the same distances.
The SA Triple TiaraBe there
The classic season at Turffontein.
February, March, April — three months at Turffontein that define the Highveld's three-year-old generation. Race day hospitality, suites and tables by arrangement.
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