Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown final and oldest race
America’s oldest of the three Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes, was first run on June 19, 1867.
The not so famous stakes race at that time was named after August Belmont, a famous entrepreneur, who had a taste for horse racing, and, played a big role in financing the first Belmont Stakes held at Jerome Park Racetrack in The Bronx.
Belmont Stakes is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. It’s a race for three-year old Thoroughbred, Colts and Geldings.
The ancient arena where it all started, the Jerome Park racecourse, was not a conventional racecourse but rather possessed an odd attribute, which required its runners to take three turns, instead of two.
It was a challenging track with a maximum distance to run approximately 1-5/8 miles, which was later cut down to 1-1/2 miles in 1926, a race which was won by Crusader son of legendary Man o’ War and since then the race has been run at that distance.
The Belmont Stakes races have yielded some monumental moments and bestowed some champion sires, who have left their imprint within the history of Belmont Stakes.
Undoubtedly the horse that was at the pinnacle of racing Man o’ War tops the list of Belmont champion sires and to further comment on the glory it brought to him and the park, was the revelation of three of his sires, who won it, as well.
Then there was Secretariat, who raced into the ever glow of immorality, in the 1973 Belmont stakes. He ran with blazing pace to win 31 lengths ahead of his nearest challenger and in a world record time for the 1-1/2 miles distance, of 2 minutes and 24 seconds
flat.
What Belmont has over other races is that it is the oldest of the three Triple Crown events. It was held six years before the Preakness and eight years before the Kentucky Derby. One of the most anticipated legs of the Triple Crown because it’s potent enough
to make or break a Triple Crown champion courtesy its distance and status.
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