This yr’s Belmont Stakes Introduced by NYRA Bets will probably be held June 8, however there’s a notable twist to the ultimate jewel of the 2024 Triple Crown.
The race sometimes is held at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., nevertheless the famed racetrack at the moment is present process an enormous renovation, and that building pressured the race to be moved to upstate New York for 2 years (2024 and 2025) the place will probably be held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., one other iconic horse racing venue.
The possible area for the 2024 Belmont Stakes appears to be like expecially sturdy with Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve winner Mystik Dan among the many runners tentatively focusing on the race alongside with Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Gray, Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, champion Fierceness, and a number of other different Derby contributors slated to compete. To assist get you prepared for the ultimate jewel of the Triple Crown, beneath are 17 fascinating info in regards to the race referred to as the “Take a look at of the Champion.”
1. The Belmont Stakes is the oldest of the three Triple Crown races. It was first held in 1867, and this yr is the 156th working, in contrast with the a hundred and fiftieth Derby and 149th Preakness. The Belmont Stakes is the fourth-oldest stakes race in North America. The Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland was first run in 1831, the King’s Plate in Canada held its inaugural race in 1860, and the Travers began at Saratoga in 1864.
2. The 2020 Belmont Stakes marked the primary time since 1926 that the race was not contested at its famed 1 ½-mile distance, and for the subsequent two years (2024 and 2025) will probably be held at 1 1/4 miles. The COVID-19 pandemic led to many racetracks being briefly shut down, the postponement or cancellation of key races on the Triple Crown path, and the interruption of coaching schedules for trainers and their racehorses. That prompted the Belmont Stakes to be held at 1 1/8 miles round one flip and scheduled as the primary leg of the Triple Crown as an alternative of the final one for the primary time within the race’s historical past. The race returned to its regular distance and placement as the ultimate leg of the Triple Crown for the subsequent three editions, however the building mission underway at Belmont Park led to modifications once more … beginning this yr. Belmont Park options a 1 ½-mile oval, whereas Saratoga Race Course is a one-mile principal monitor. Saratoga’s structure makes it almost inconceivable to carry 1 ½-mile races on the principle monitor, thus the Belmont Stakes will probably be held at 1 ¼ miles for the subsequent two years. That’s the identical distance because the Kentucky Derby and Saratoga’s signature summer time race, the Travers Stakes.
3. A document crowd of 120,139 turned out to observe Smarty Jones vie for the Triple Crown in 2004. The fan favourite was crushed by 36-1 longshot Birdstone. The second-largest crowd of 103,322 got here two years beforehand when 70.25-1 Sarava upset Battle Emblem within the latter’s bid for a Triple Crown in 2002. Sarava was educated by Kenny McPeek, who might have two contenders for this yr’s Belmont Stakes within the afdorementioned Mystik Dan and Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna. Neither will probably be 70-1!
4. Traditionally, the betting favourite has gained the Belmont Stakes 43% of the time (66 of 155 runnings) and 4 of the final six editions featured successful favorites: Mo Donegal (2022), Important High quality (2021), Tiz the Regulation (2020), and Justify (2018). Sir Winston in 2019 paid $22.40 for a $2 win wager and Arcangelo final yr was the fifth alternative within the betting, returning $17.80 for a $2 win wager.
5. A pair of Triple Crown winners owns the 2 largest successful margins within the Belmont. Secretariat gained by 31 lengths in 1973 and Rely Fleet gained by 25 lengths 30 years prior. Who owns the biggest successful margin within the Belmont Stakes since Secretariat? Nicely, that may be Secretariat’s son Risen Star, who in 1988 gained the Belmont Stakes by 14 3/4 lengths in a wide ranging efficiency.
6. Talking of Secretariat, the 1973 Triple Crown winner set a world document for 1 1/2 miles on the dust when he gained the 1973 Belmont in 2:24. He was so quick that Secretariat additionally holds the document for the quickest half-mile, three-quarters of a mile, one-mile, and 1 1/4-mile fractions in Belmont Stakes historical past. Clearly, there isn’t any likelihood for the 1 1/2-mile stakes document to be damaged in 2024 due to the gap change to 1 1/4 miles. May Secretariat’s 1 1/4-mile fractional time of 1:59 be bettered? Contemplating the stakes document for 1 1/4-mile Travers Stakes, the “Mid-Summer time Derby” at Saratoga, is 1:59.36 set by Arrogate in 2016, it appears extraordinaily unlikely however rather more real looking than 1 1/2 miles in lower than 2:24.
7. The primary Belmont Stakes featured a complete purse of $2,500, with the filly Ruthless taking house the $1,850 winner’s share. This yr’s race is value $2 million, together with $1.2 million for the winner.
8. From 1882 by 1888, jockey James McLaughlin gained six editions of the Belmont Stakes within the span of seven years. McLaughlin established the document for essentially the most Belmont wins by a jockey that Eddie Arcaro equaled in 1955 along with his sixth and ultimate Belmont Stakes victory aboard Nashua. The main energetic rider is Mike Smith with three wins within the race: Drosselmeyer (2010), Palace Malice (2013) and Justify (2018).
9. Coach James Rowe Sr. in 1913 gained his eighth Belmont Stakes with Prince Eugene, establishing a document has by no means been damaged. Rowe additionally gained the Belmont twice as a jockey in 1872 on Joe Daniels and 1873 aboard Springbok. The one different individual to each trip and prepare a Belmont Stakes winner is George Martin Odom, who rode Delhi (1904) to victory and in 1938 saddled winner Pasteurized.
10. The main energetic trainers by Belmont Stakes victories are Corridor of Famers D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher (a former assistant to Lukas) with 4 every. Lukas gained the race with Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995), Editor’s Word (1996), and Commendable (2000). Pletcher’s victories got here with the filly Rags to Riches in 2007 in addition to Palace Malice (2013), Tapwrit (2017), and Mo Donegal (2022). Lukas and Pletcher each have an opportunity so as to add to that whole in 2024. Lukas is focusing on the race with Seize the Gray, whereas Pletcher at the moment has at the very least two candidates in Fierceness and Peter Pan Stakes winner Antiquarian.
11. Julie Krone within the 1993 Belmont Stakes turned the primary girl to trip a winner in a U.S. Triple Crown race. Krone guided longshot Colonial Affair from off the tempo to win by 2 ¼ lengths.
12. Final yr, 30 years after Krone’s accomplishment, Jena Antonucci turned the primary girl to coach the winner of the Belmont Stakes when Arcangelo scored by 1 1/2 lengths. Antonucci was solely the 11th girl to saddle a horse within the “Take a look at of the Champion” and the primary since 2011.
13. The aforementioned Sarava gave bettors the most important win payout within the historical past of the Belmont at odds of 70.25-1. His 2002 win earned bettors $142.50 for each $2 wager and the $2 exacta with runner-up Medaglia d’Oro paid $2,454 after Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Battle Emblem stumbled at the beginning and completed eighth.
14. The 1921 Belmont Stakes was the primary to be run within the counter-clockwise route. That yr, the 53rd working of the Belmont Stakes was a 1 3/8-mile race on the principle monitor. Earlier editions had been run clockwise, in accordance with English customized, on a fish-hook-shaped course that included a part of the coaching monitor and the principle dust oval.
15. Twenty editions of the Belmont Stakes have been gained by horses whose names started with the letter C, most just lately Creator in 2016. The letter S ranks second with 18 winners, whereas no Belmont winner’s title has ever began with the letters X or Y. Arcangelo in 2023 turned the twelfth winner whose title started with the letter A, tied for third with the letter P.
16. Tiz the Regulation in 2020 turned the primary New York-bred winner of the Belmont Stakes in a exceptional 138 years. He joined Ruthless (1867), Fenian (1869), and Forester (1882) within the historical past books as the one New York-bred winners of the race.
17. Seize the Gray will attempt to turn out to be the 19th non-Triple Crown winner to finish the Preakness-Belmont Stakes double and the primary since Afleet Alex in 2005. Clearly, the 13 Triple Crown winners additionally gained each races, however the Arrogate colt can be part of Cloverbrook (1877), Duke Of Magenta (1878), Grenada (1880), Saunterer (1881), Belmar (1895), Man o’ Battle (1920), Pillory (1922), Bimelech (1940), Capot (1949), Native Dancer (1953), Nashua (1955), Damascus (1967), Little Present (1974), Risen Star (1988), Hansel (1991), Tabasco Cat (1994), Level Given (2001), and the aforementioned Afleet Alex.
