Led by 2-year-old champion Citizen Bull, 32 horses from the barn of Todd Pletcher, and a record 69 Japan-based horses, a total of 373 3-year-olds were nominated to this year’s Triple Crown during the early nomination phase. The figure represents a 7.8 percent increase over the 346 early nominations in 2024 and is the highest figure since there were 418 early nominees in 2017. 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 3.  The other races in the series are the $2 million Preakness at Pimlico on May 17 and the $2 million Belmont Stakes, which, for the second straight year, due to ongoing construction at Belmont Park, will be held at Saratoga on June 7. 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. The first deadline to nominate to the Triple Crown, for a fee of $600, passed on Jan. 27. There is a second nomination deadline, April 7, at which time it would cost an owner $6,000 to nominate and have a horse eligible for all three races. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Following the April 7 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. Though Pletcher, a winner of two Kentucky Derbies and four Belmont Stakes, leads all trainers with 32 nominations, he had 54 in 2024. The Hall of Fame trainer said last week that most of his 3-year-olds are behind schedule in terms of the making the Derby. However, River Thames put himself in position to run in a Kentucky Derby points-qualifying race with an allowance win at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, his second win from two starts. “We’re light on horses that are really on the Derby trail,” Pletcher said last week before River Thames won. “Of course, Triple Crown nominations cover two more races. Who knows what two more weeks or five weeks is going to do.” Bob Baffert has won a record 17 Triple Crown races, including the Preakness a record eight times. Baffert is tied for the most Kentucky Derby wins with six. Baffert is again eligible to run horses in the Derby after a three-year ban imposed by Churchill owing to a medication violation for Medina Spirit, who was disqualified from first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. This year, Baffert has 21 Triple Crown nominees, including Citizen Bull, the 2024 2-year-old champion who made a successful 3-year-old debut in the Robert Lewis on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita, and Barnes, the undefeated colt who has won both of his first two starts impressively and is headed to a Kentucky Derby points-scoring race in his next start. Following Pletcher and Baffert, the trainers with the most Triple Crown nominees are Brad Cox (14), Chad Brown (13), and Kenny McPeek (12). McPeek won last year’s Derby with Mystik Dan. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The 69 Japan-based Triple Crown nominees eclipses the record 47 nominated last year. Last year, Japan-based horses Forever Young and T O Password finished third and fifth, respectively, in the Derby. Among the 33 individual Japan-based trainers who have horses nominated to the Triple Crown are Yoshito Yahagi, who conditioned Forever Young. Yahagi has six nominated this year, including the filly Mistress. Hideyuki Mori, who sent out Ski Captain to a 14th-place finish in the 1995 Derby, also has six nominees. Daisuke Takayanagi, who trained T O Password, has five nominees. Of the seven fillies nominated to the Triple Crown, four are Japan-based. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.