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.
War Admiral was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown. He was also the 1937 Horse of the Year and well known as the rival of Seabiscuit in the "Match Race of the Century" in 1938. War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts with earnings of $273,240 and was the leading sire in North America for 1945. He was also an outstanding broodmare sire whose influence is still felt today in descendants such as Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.
Citation was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eighth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win US$1 million.
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to international classifications, behind only the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. First held in 1864, it is the oldest stakes race in the United States specifically for 3-year-olds, and was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers. The race was not run in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1911, and 1912. From 1943-5, it was run at Belmont Park instead of Saratoga due to the war.
A.P. Indy was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic on his way to American Horse of the Year honors in 1992. His time in the Belmont Stakes tied Easy Goer for the second-fastest running in the history of the race, behind his damsire Secretariat.
Crusader (1923–1940) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, whose career lasted from 1925 to 1928. In that time, he ran forty-two times and won eighteen races. He was the leading American three-year-old in 1926, winning a number of important races including the Suburban Handicap, the Belmont Stakes and the Dwyer Stakes. He continued to race for a further two seasons, but his form declined after he was injured at Aqueduct Racetrack in June 1927.
La Troienne (1926–1954) was one of the most famous and influential Thoroughbred broodmares in twentieth century America. She produced 10 winners including two Hall of Fame inductees while at stud, while her daughters in turn produced many notable offspring. In 2000, pedigree expert Janeen Oliver designated her as the taproot of family 1-x, a designation that was implemented by the Pedigree Online Thoroughbred Database in 2003. Recent matrilineal descendants include 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail (2020), Kentucky Derby winners Smarty Jones (2004) and Super Saver (2010), Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality (2021), and Sussex Stakes winner Alcohol Free (2021).
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year. Although his three-year-old campaign was restricted by injury, Deputy Minister rebounded at age four with several major wins.
Fair Play was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was successful on the track, but even more so when retired to stud. He is best known as the sire of Man o' War, widely considered one of the greatest American racehorses of all time. On the racetrack, Fair Play was known for his rivalry with the undefeated Colin, to whom he finished second in the Belmont Stakes. Later, Fair Play was the leading sire in North America of 1920, 1924 and 1927, and the leading broodmare sire of 1931, 1934 and 1938. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1956.
Bimelech was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races and was a Champion at both age two and three. He was ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired 30 stakes winners and his daughters produced 50 stakes winners.
Smart Strike was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. The son of the Champion sire, Mr. Prospector, and out of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart, Smart Strike is a half-brother to 1991 Canadian Triple Crown champion Dance Smartly.
Summer Squall was an American thoroughbred racehorse and sire, best known for his win in the 1990 Preakness Stakes, and his rivalry with Unbridled, whom he defeated in four of their six meetings. He later became a successful breeding stallion siring the Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic.
Hastings was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion.
Spendthrift was a successful American Thoroughbred racehorse who fathered a large and successful dynasty of racehorses.
Kentucky (1861–1875), was a successful American Thoroughbred racehorse who won 21 of his 23 starts, including 20 consecutive wins.
Fappiano was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whose most important win was the 1981 Metropolitan Handicap. When retired to stud, he became a major sire whose offspring included Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled. He was named for Joseph C. Nichols (1905–1984), a long-time sportswriter for The New York Times, who was born Giuseppe Carmine Fappiano.
Pot O'Luck (1942) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by the renowned Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky. He was sired by Chance Play, the 1927 retrospective American Horse of the Year and 1935 Leading sire in North America. Out of the mare Potheen, his damsire was Wildair, winner of the 1920 Metropolitan Handicap.
Luke McLuke was a bay Thoroughbred stallion born in the United States. He won the 1914 Belmont Stakes, the Carlton Stakes, Kentucky Handicap, and Grainger Memorial Handicap among his four wins from six starts. After his racing career was over, he became a breeding stallion, siring 11 stakes winners. Two of his daughters were named as year-end Champions in the United States.
Pompey (1923–1944) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
Mother Goose was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1924. From the 128 runnings of the Belmont Futurity Stakes since its inception in 1888 through 2019, Mother Goose is one of only thirteen fillies to have ever won the event. The Mother Goose Stakes at New York's Belmont Park is named in her honor.
