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.
Smarty Jones is a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and came second in the Belmont Stakes.
Elusive Quality was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a record-setting sprinter on the racetrack and the leading sire in North America of 2004. He sired the 2004 Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones.
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.
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.
Tonalist is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Belmont Stakes, beating the favored California Chrome, who was attempting to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist won the Peter Pan Stakes in May 2014. He is the first horse since A.P. Indy in 1992 to win the Peter Pan/Belmont double. Later in the year he defeated older horses to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile and a sixteenth with a current purse of $500,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara and is followed by the Coaching Club American Oaks then the Alabama Stakes. The filly must win all three races to win the Triple Tiara, as well as the third leg of the "National" Triple Tiara.
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.
The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on dirt.
A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level is then assigned to the race, based on statistical analysis of the quality of the field in previous years, provided the race meets the minimum purse criteria for the grade in question. In Canada, a similar grading system is maintained by the Jockey Club of Canada. Graded stakes races are similar to Group races in Europe but the grading is more dynamic in North America.
The Tremont Stakes is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for two-year-olds over the distance of 5+1⁄2 furlongs on the dirt in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event carries a purse of US$150,000.
The National Stallion Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held sixty-two times between 1898 and 1971. Inaugurated as the National Stallion Race at Morris Park Racecourse in The Bronx, the event was open to horses of either sex until 1948 when it became a race exclusively for colts and geldings and a National Stallion Stakes was created. Contested on dirt at a distance of five furlongs, from 1905 onward it was hosted by Belmont Park in Elmont, New York except for 1963 through 1967 when it was run at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York.
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 Jaipur Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and older held over a distance of six furlongs on the turf scheduled annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $500,000.
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.
Bird Town is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After showing some promise when winning one of her four starts as a two-year-old in 2002, she emerged as one of the best North American fillies of her generation in the following summer with wins in the Kentucky Oaks and the Acorn Stakes. She also finished second in the Test Stakes and the Beldame Stakes before being retired at the end of the season with a record of four wins in twelve races.
The Intercontinental Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged four years old and older, over a distance of six furlongs on the turf held annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $200,000.
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 $200,000.
The Great Trial Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1891 through 1910 and for 1913 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt, it was run at a distance of 5¾ furlongs from 1891 through 1900 and then at 6 furlongs. Run in late June or early July, for most of its years at Sheepshead Bay the Great Trial Stakes was the most valuable race for two-year-olds during the track's summer meet.
Luis Saez is a Panamanian jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Saez rode Maximum Security to finish first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was subsequently disqualified due to interference. The two later won the world's richest race, the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup, in 2020. Saez won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2020 and first American Classic in 2021, both with champion Essential Quality.
