44.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Honoring winning traditions at the Belmont Stakes
No Triple Crown, but still a fabulous day at the races
While there won't be a Triple Crown now that I'll Have Another is out of the race, there will still be an historic 144th annual Belmont Stakes this Saturday.
The Belmont Stakes was first was run in 1867 – on June 19 – at Jerome Park in The Bronx. It predates the Preakness by six years the Kentucky Derby by eight years. In fact, the Belmont is the oldest, continuously run, race in North America. A filly named Ruthless won that first race in 1867, with a purse of $2,500.
In 1890, the Belmont, named for August Belmont I, was moved from Jerome Park to Morris Park, a 1 3/8-mile track once located a few miles east of what is now Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx. The Belmont Stakes was run at Morris Park until Belmont Park opened in 1905.
The 1921 Stakes was the first to be run in the counter-clockwise direction; the 53rd running was a 1 3/8-mile race over the main course. Previously it had been run clockwise, in accordance with English custom, over a fish-hook course that included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.
The Belmont Stakes have tripped up 19 who tried for the Triple Crown, now 20. Now 31 horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown coming into the Belmont Stakes and only 11 have succeeded. The last, of course, in 1978 when Affirmed won by a head over Alydar.
The Belmont Stakes Trophy
The Belmont Stakes trophy – known as the August Belmont Memorial Cup – is a Tiffany-made solid silver bowl, 18 inches high, 15 inches across and 14 inches at the base.
Atop the cover is a silver figure of Fenian, winner of the third running of the Belmont Stakes in 1869.
The bowl is supported by three horses – Eclipse, Herod and Matchem – who represent the descendents of the three foundation sires of thoroughbreds. The trophy was presented by the Belmont family as a perpetual award for the Belmont Stakes in 1926. It was the trophy August Belmont’s Fenian won in 1869 and had remained with the Belmont family since that time. The winning owner is given the option of keeping the trophy for the year their horse reigns as Belmont champion. The owner of the winner of the Belmont Stakes also receives, permanently, a silver miniature of the August Belmont Memorial Cup, as do the winning trainer and jockey.
Belmont Songs
The race song has changed several tines. “New York, New York,” written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, was performed as the field for the Belmont Stakes made its way to the starting gate from 1997-2009 and in 2011. Prior to 1997, “Sidewalks of New York” was heard. In 2010, “Empire State of Mind” was performed.
The Belmont Breeze – “Toast Of The Champion”
The Belmont Breeze is the official drink of the Belmont Stakes. Created by Dale DeGroff, former head bartender at the Rainbow Room, the profile of the Belmont Breeze comes from the colonial recipe: “One of sour, one of sweet, three of strong and four of weak .”The ingredients are as follows:
