At age three in 1932, after a poor performance in the Wood Memorial Stakes, Faireno did not run in the Kentucky Derby. Although he was shipped to Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness Stakes, he was withdrawn a few days before the race and sent back to his base in New York. In late May, Faireno ran second in the Campfire Purse at Belmont Park then on June 4 lead virtually all the way to win the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes. Faireno went on to win the Shevlin Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in June, the Dwyer Stakes on July 2, was eight in the Arlington Classic, and then won the Hawthorne Handicap on August 6 before running second to Plucky Play in the August 27th Hawthorne Gold Cup. On September 17, 1932 he came back with a decisive win in the Lawrence Realization Stakes but came out of the race with a tendon injury that kept him out of racing for the remainder of the year and all of 1933. Despite his shortened 1932 campaign, Faireno still retrospectively shared American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors with Burgoo King.
