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.
Mr. Prospector was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, including the Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack and the Whirlaway Handicap at Garden State Park.
John R. Velazquez is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both years was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, rode his 5,000th winner in 2013, and became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport in 2014.
Douglas F. O'Neill is an American Thoroughbred horse trainer. He was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and resides in California, where he trained the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, I'll Have Another, and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. O'Neill and his family reside in Santa Monica, California.
The 2008 Belmont Stakes was the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes. The race was won by Da'Tara, who led the race wire to wire. Da'Tara went off at 38–1 odds, making the win a monumental upset. Entrants included the favorite, winner of both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Big Brown, but he eased on last place, a first for any Triple Crown hopeful. A win by Big Brown would have marked the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. Other entrants were Derby runners Denis of Cork, Tale of Ekati, and Anak Nakal; Preakness runner up Macho Again and third-place finisher Icabad Crane; and Peter Pan runner, Ready's Echo. The sire of Anak Nakal, Victory Gallop, is a Belmont winner, while Casino Drive has two Belmont-winning siblings.
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.
Animal Kingdom is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2011 Kentucky Derby and 2013 Dubai World Cup.
The 2011 Belmont Stakes was the 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes and was won by Ruler on Ice. The race was run on June 11, 2011, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was 6:30 p.m. EDT. As in the previous year, the Belmont was run without the elusive championship at stake as 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom lost in the Preakness.
The 138th Kentucky Derby was the running of the Kentucky Derby in 2012, and took place on May 5 at 6:24 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) at Churchill Downs. Due to sponsorship, the race was known as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. The race was televised in the United States on the NBC television network.
Union Rags is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2012 Belmont Stakes. He also won the Champagne Stakes and the Saratoga Special Stakes
I'll Have Another is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
The 2012 Preakness Stakes was the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 19, 2012, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was 6:20 p.m. EDT. I'll Have Another won the second leg of the Triple Crown, narrowly defeating Bodemeister in a last-furlong push.
Dullahan was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old he recorded his first win in the Grade I Breeders' Futurity Stakes. In early 2012, he won the Blue Grass Stakes, finished third in the Kentucky Derby and was the beaten favorite for the Belmont Stakes. Later in the season, he defeated older horses in the Pacific Classic. He was euthanized of a ruptured colon on October 20, 2013, at Winstar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.
Take Charge Indy is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. His win in the 2012 Florida Derby saw him regarded as a contender for the Triple Crown races, but an injury sustained in the Kentucky Derby ruled him out for most of the remainder of the season. As a four-year-old in 2013 he won the Alysheba Stakes but later that summer suffered a condylar fracture in the Monmouth Cup, which required surgery, but ended his racing career and his owners, WinStar Farm, retired him to stud.
The 2014 Preakness Stakes was the 139th running of the Preakness Stakes. The race was scheduled to start at 6:18 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 17, 2014, at Pimlico Race Course and was run as the twelfth race on a racecard with thirteen races. The race was won by California Chrome, giving him a chance to win the Triple Crown at Belmont. It is the thirty-fourth time a horse has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown. The Maryland Jockey Club reported a track record total attendance of 123,469, the second highest attendance for American thoroughbred racing events in North America during 2014.
The 2014 Belmont Stakes was the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes. It was run on June 7, 2014, and was televised on NBC. California Chrome had a chance to complete the third leg of the Triple Crown after his victories in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and the 2014 Preakness Stakes. However, it was Tonalist who won the race. Commissioner placed second and Medal Count took third. California Chrome finished in a tie for fourth with Wicked Strong.
The Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing is an informal name for winning four major Thoroughbred horse races in one season in the United States. The term has been applied to two configurations of races, both of which include the races of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes—and either the Travers Stakes or the Breeders' Cup Classic as the final race.
The 2020 Preakness Stakes was the 145th Preakness Stakes, a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+3⁄16 miles. The race is one leg of the American Triple Crown and is held annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
The 2021 Belmont Stakes was the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 110th time the event took place at Belmont Park. The 1+1⁄2-mile (2,400 m) 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 Essential Quality.
The 2022 Belmont Stakes was the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes and the 111th time the event would take place at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The 1+1⁄2-mile (2,410 m) 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 Mo Donegal.
