With high volume from the usual suspects and continued interest from Japanese horsemen, a total of 367 3-year-olds have been nominated to this year’s Triple Crown series.  The 367 figure is six fewer than last year’s early nominees.  The list was released Tuesday morning by Churchill Downs, which hosts the first leg of the Triple Crown, the $5 million Kentucky Derby, on May 2. The other races in the series are the $2 million Preakness, which this year will be held at Laurel Park while Pimlico is undergoing renovations, and the $2 million Belmont Stakes, which, for the third straight year, due to ongoing construction at Belmont Park, will be held at Saratoga on June 6.  With the race at Saratoga, the Belmont will again be shortened to 1 1/4 miles from its usual 1 1/2 miles and be limited to 14 starters, as opposed to 16 when the race is held at Belmont Park.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The first deadline to nominate to the Triple Crown, for a fee of $600, passed on Jan. 26. There is a second nomination deadline, April 6, at which time it would cost an owner $6,000 to nominate and have a horse eligible for all three races.   Following the April 6 deadline, a horse could be nominated to all three Triple Crown races for a fee of $200,000 prior to the Kentucky Derby. Horses may also be supplemented to a single Triple Crown race by close of entries for that race.  A horse could be supplemented to only the Kentucky Derby for a $50,000 fee. The supplemental fee is $150,000 for the Preakness and $50,000 for the Belmont.  Trainer Todd Pletcher leads all North American-based trainers with 31 nominees, a number that includes 2-year-old champion Ted Noffey, who was recently declared sidelined through the Triple Crown due to injury. Now, Pletcher’s prospects are topped by Nearly, who established himself as a top Kentucky Derby contender with a victory in last Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Other leading prospects for Pletcher include Renegade, Courting, and Jackson Hole.   Zany, a filly, has also been nominated by Pletcher, who won the 2007 Belmont Stakes with the filly Rags to Riches. Seventeen of Pletcher’s 31 nominees have yet to make a start.  Bob Baffert, who owns the record for most Triple Crown race victories with 17, has 23 nominated to this year’s series. Baffert’s group includes Brant, Buetane, Desert Gate, Litmus Test, and Plutarch. Litmus Test, entered in Friday’s Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, will scratch to await the San Felipe on March 7 at Santa Anita, Baffert said.  Chad Brown (22) and Brad Cox (21) are well represented on the nomination list. Brown’s contingent is topped by Grade 2 Remsen winner Paladin; Ottinho, the probable favorite for Saturday’s Withers at Aqueduct; and exciting debut winner Canaletto. Ten of Brown’s nominees have yet to start.  Cox’s nominees are topped by Further Ado, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, who is targeting the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7; Commandment, winner of the Mucho Macho Man Stakes and a candidate for the Fountain of Youth on Feb. 28; My World, winner of the Jerome; and Confessional, who runs in Saturday’s Sam F. Davis at Tampa.  :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports There are 37 Japan-based Triple Crown nominees, down from the record 69 who were nominated in 2025. There have been at least two Japan-based horses entered in the Kentucky Derby each of the last three years.  Trainer Daisuke Takayanagi leads the Japanese-based horsemen in nominees with 14, five of which are fillies.  Japan’s top Derby prospect at the moment is Pyromancer, a son of Pyro who has won all three of his starts for Takayanagi. He is owned by Godolphin, which won last year’s Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.