The first 23 runnings of the race were held at Jerome Park. The race was then run at Morris Park for 15 years before moving to Belmont Park in 1905. The race was run at Aqueduct from 1963 until 1967 while Belmont Park was being rebuilt.
In 1870, a jockey recorded only as “Dick,” a freed slave who later adopted the name Ed Brown, became the first African American jockey to win the race. He is still listed as “Dick” in the 2007 Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac.
The Belmont Stakes has seen some of the most dramatic moments in all of racing. After all, it’s the final leg of the Triple Crown, which has been won 11 times, the last being Affirmed in 1978.
Secretariat ran the fastest Belmont in 1973 (2:24) and won the race by 31 lengths, capturing the Triple Crown in the most memorable Belmont in history.
The second-fasted Belmont was run by Easy Goer and A.P. Indy, a full two seconds slower than Secretariat.
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Near Misses in Triple Crown
In addition to the eleven Triple Crown winners, there have been plenty of near misses. Since 1997 six three-year-olds headed to Belmont Park with a chance to win the Triple Crown, and all came up short.
The closest was in 1998 when the Bob Baffert-trained Real Quiet opened up a four-length lead with a furlong to go and lost in the final jump to Victory Gallop.
Thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading female jockey, Julie Krone, became the first woman to win a Triple Crown race when she rode to victory in the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair in 1993.
James Rowe leads all trainers with eight Belmont wins. The most for an active trainer is D. Wayne Lukas with four.
Jockeys Eddie Arcaro and James McLaughlin share top honors with six wins each.
2021 Replay: Essential Quality wins the 2021 Belmont Stakes
