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.
Risen Star (March 25, 1985 – March 13, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1988.
Affirmed was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, including coming second in each of the three 1978 Triple Crown races. After Affirmed won the Triple Crown, there was a 37-year wait until American Pharoah swept the series in 2015.
Seattle Slew was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who became the tenth winner of the American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only two horses to have won the Triple Crown while being undefeated in any previous race; the second was Justify who won the Triple Crown in 2018 and is descended from Seattle Slew. Seattle Slew was the 1977 Horse of the Year and a champion at ages two, three, and four. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Seattle Slew was ranked ninth.
Count Fleet was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the sixth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won the Belmont Stakes by a then record margin of twenty-five lengths. After an undefeated season, he was named the 1943 Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old. Also a champion at age two, he is ranked as one of the greatest American racehorses of the twentieth century, ranking fifth on the Bloodhorse magazine's listing. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1961.
Assault was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the seventh winner of the American Triple Crown and the only Texas-bred winner of the Triple Crown.
Alysheba was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987. A successful sire, he produced 11 stakes winners.
Spectacular Bid was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and holds the world record for the fastest 1 1/4 miles on the dirt. He won 26 of his 30 races and earned a then-record $2,781,607. He also won Eclipse Awards in each of his three racing seasons.
Sunday Silence was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1989, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes but failed to complete the Triple Crown when he was defeated in the Belmont Stakes. Nevertheless, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic and was voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and American Horse of the Year that same year. Sunday Silence's racing career was marked by his rivalry with Easy Goer, whom he had a three to one edge over in their head-to-head races. Easy Goer, the 1988 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt finished second to Sunday Silence in the Kentucky Derby the Preakness, and the Breeders' Cup Classic. However, Easy Goer prevailed by eight lengths in the Belmont denying Sunday Silence the Triple Crown. Both horses were later voted into the American Hall of Fame.
Kauai King was an American Thoroughbred racehorse was foaled on April 3, 1963 at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. His sire was Native Dancer and his dam was Sweep In. In 1966, Kauai King won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown. To date, Kauai King is one of only two horses born in Maryland to have crossed the Kentucky Derby finish line first, but 1968 winner Dancer's Image was later stripped of his title, leaving Kauai King as the only official Maryland-bred winner of the Derby.
Graustark (1963–1988) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a favorite to win the 1966 Kentucky Derby until an injury prematurely ended his career.
Never Bend (1960–1977) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1962 American Champion Two-Year-Old and later became a leading sire in England.
Burgoo King (1929–1946) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series but who did not run in the final race, the Belmont Stakes.
Empire Maker was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes and is the grandsire of the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
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.
Hoist The Flag (1968–1980) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the outstanding two-year-old colt in the United States in 1970 when his wins included the Cowdin Stakes. Hoist The Flag was being prepared for the Triple Crown races when his career was ended by a leg injury. He subsequently became a highly successful and influential breeding stallion.
Elocutionist was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.
Hasty Road (1951–1978) was an American thoroughbred racehorse which won the 1954 Preakness Stakes. In 1953, Hasty Road won six of his nine races including the Arlington Futurity and the Washington Park Futurity, and set a record for prize money won by a two-year-old. In 1954 Hasty Road defeated Determine in track record time in the Derby Trial and then finished second to the same horse in the Kentucky Derby. At Pimlico Race Course in May, he recorded his most important victory when winning the Preakness Stakes by a neck from Correlation. The rest of his three-year-old campaign wasn't as good, but he returned to form to win the Widener Handicap in February 1955 before his racing career was ended by injury.
Star Standard was a millionaire American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by Highclere, Inc. & Louis Roussel III and raced under the William Condren banner as his owner. He was sired by top stallion Risen Star, who in turn was a son of Secretariat. His dam was Hoist Emy's Flag daughter of graded stakes winner Hoist The Flag. He finished racing with a record of 7-4-3 in 25 starts with career earnings of $1,121,512. Star Standard was best known for his win in the grade one Pimlico Special and his runner-up finish in the grade one Belmont Stakes.
Oxbow, an American Thoroughbred racehorse, is best known for winning the second jewel in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, the 2013 Preakness Stakes. A bay colt, sired by a winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic and out of a full sister to another Breeders' Cup Classic winner, Oxbow was sold as a yearling at Keeneland for $250,000 and is owned by Brad Kelley of Calumet Farm. He was trained by D. Wayne Lukas and was ridden in his Triple Crown races by Gary Stevens.
