How did American Pharoh qualify for the Triple Crown? It started with the Kentucky Derby.

The new point system (click here) -- officially branded as the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" -- will feature 36 stakes races overall and include 17 marquee events for three-year-old Thoroughbreds that comprise a compact, 10-week run up to the first Saturday in May to be known as the "Kentucky Derby Championship Series."

The Series (click here).  It is based in performance, not birth. The point system is the earnings of the colt or filly. The fillies (the girls) have a different qualifying path, but, she will have had to compete with the colts that will qualify as well. There were three fillies in the history of the Derby that have won the race. There is not one filly that has won the Triple Crown.