Gay Crusader (1914–14 September 1932) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won a wartime version of the English Triple Crown in 1917.

Gay Crusader was a bay horse of "beautiful quality"[2] bred by his owner Alfred W Cox, who used the name "Mr Fairie" for his racing interests.

Cox sent the colt into training with Alec Taylor, Jr. at Manton, Wiltshire Gay Crusader was a small and weak yearling and early in his two-year-old season his progress was delayed by sore shins.

[2][4] The First World War led to a restricted and restructured racing schedule from 1915 to 1918, with many racecourses, including Epsom, Ascot and Doncaster being used by the military or closed to conserve resources.

[4][7] Before the 2000 Guineas he performed impressively in a private trial race and in the Classic he started 9/4 favourite in a field of fourteen runners.

The Taylor stable had another leading contender in Magpie, and the relative merits of the two Manton colts were unclear, as Cox had refused to allow them to gallop together.

[8] The closing stages of the race developed into a match between the stable companions and Gay Crusader, under a strong ride from Steve Donoghue prevailed by a head from Magpie and Otto Madden.

The favourite had some problems obtaining a run as he was boxed in against the rails at a crucial stage,[12] but once clear he quickly took the lead and pulled away to win very easily[2] by four lengths from Dansellon and Dark Legend.

Shortly after Gay Crusader's retirement, Cox turned down an offer of £100,000 for the horse, an enormous amount at the time from Jack Joel.