The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of 1+1⁄2 miles. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, The Test of Champions and The Run for the Carnations, is the traditional third and final leg of the Triple Crown. It is usually held on the first or second Saturday in June, five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the track record of 2:24.
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown. It was opened on May 4, 1905, and is one of the best well known racetracks in the United States.
Ruffian was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won ten consecutive races, including the Acorn, Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks, then known as the American Triple Tiara. She was in the lead at every point of call in every race she ever ran and set new stakes records in each of the eight stakes races she won. Her dominating wins caused her to be named the American Champion filly at both ages two and three. In July 1975, she entered a highly anticipated match race with Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure, in which she broke down. Surgery was attempted but Ruffian reacted poorly and exacerbated the injuries while coming out of anesthesia. As a result, she was euthanized.
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country. It is the oldest thoroughbred race track in the country, but counting harness tracks it is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the U.S.. In 1857 the Empire Race Course was opened on an island in the Hudson River near Albany, but was in operation only a short time.
Native Dancer, nicknamed the Gray Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television. He was a champion in each of his three years of racing, and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, he was ranked seventh.
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing meets are usually from late October/early November through April. The racetrack is located adjacent to a casino called Resorts World New York City.
The Futurity Stakes, commonly referred to as the Belmont Futurity, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-September or October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, United States. Open to two-year-old horses, it is raced on turf over a distance of six furlongs.
The Peter Pan Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles run annually during the second week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
Tom Durkin is a semi-retired American sportscaster and public address announcer specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing. He was the race caller for NBC Sports from 1984 through 2010 and served as announcer for the New York Racing Association from 1990 until retiring in 2014. For his career-long dedication, he was awarded the Eclipse Award of Merit in January 2015.
Thoroughbred Racing on NBC is the de facto title for a series of horse races events whose broadcasts are produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States. NBC's relationship with the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing dates back to 1949 when the NBC Red Network carried the first radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby.
Larry Collmus is a Thoroughbred horse racing announcer. A native of Baltimore, Collmus has called at numerous racetracks around the country. He is the race caller for NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup. He previously called races at Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Suffolk Downs and NYRA.
Fourstardave was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won at least one race at Saratoga Race Course each year from 1987 to 1994, earning him the nickname "The Sultan of Saratoga". He died of a heart attack in October 2002 at the age of 17 while preparing for a parade of retired New York bred horses at Belmont Park and was buried in Clare Court at Saratoga Race Course.
In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three races were inaugurated in different years, the last being the Kentucky Derby in 1875. The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950 but awarded to all previous winners as well as those after 1950, is awarded to a horse who wins all three races and is thereafter designated as a Triple Crown winner. The races are traditionally run in May and early June of each year, although global events have resulted in schedule adjustments, such as in 1945 and 2020.
The Wilson Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1930 through 1958. Inaugurated as the Wilson Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, it was named in honor of the late Richard Thornton Wilson Jr., a prominent Thoroughbred owner and president of Saratoga Race Course.
But Why Not was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. The daughter of Blue Larkspur and granddaughter of Black Servant is probably best remembered for wins in the Alabama Stakes, the Acorn Stakes, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. In 1947, she was voted by the country's top sports writers as the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.
The John A. Nerud Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for four years old or older at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt run annually in early July at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently offers a purse of $250,000.
The Kelso Stakes, previously held as the Forbidden Apple Stakes, is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four years old and older held over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in mid-July at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.
The 2023 Belmont Stakes was the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes and the 112th time the event took place at Belmont Park. The 1+1⁄2 miles race, known as the "test of the champion", is the final leg in the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. The race was won by Arcangelo.
Thoroughbred Racing on Fox Sports is the de facto title for a series of horse races events whose broadcasts are produced by Fox Sports, for Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 television networks in the United States. The flagship program for the series is America's Day at the Races.
