History of the Belmont Stakes

Held since 1867, the Belmont Stakes is the oldest Triple Crown race, and the fourth oldest horse race in North America. This historical guide covers notable winners, traditions, stories, and more.
 

Belmont Stakes Traditions

The Belmont Namesake

The Belmont Stakes is named after August Belmont Sr., a leading banker and racing man of the 19th century. His son, August Jr. inherited his father’s vast banking fortune and an avid interest in racing. A scholar of bloodlines, August Jr. ranked amongst the world’s best breeders; champions like Man O’War, Tracery and Hourless passed through his stables. He was chairman of the Jockey Club for 30 years, founder of Sheepshead Bay and Belmont Park tracks and head of New York’s first Racing Commission.
 

Belmont Park's White Pine Tree

The White Pine tree in the Paddock at Belmont Park, estimated to be about 200 years old, in Belmont Park’s paddock dates back to the original parcel of land on which Belmont Park was built. The pine became part of Belmont Park’s logo when the new grandstand was constructed in 1968.
 

Belmont Park's White Carnations

White carnations represent love and luck, and they are the traditional flower of the Belmont Stakes. It takes about 700 carnations to create the 40-pound blanket which is draped over the winner. NYRA florist Tony Green and his team glue each flower in staggered rows to seven yards of green velvet cloth, folded and sewn to give it the heft to shape and support the carnations. It takes Green about five hours to make the blanket on race day. He also makes one for the Secretariat statue in Belmont’s paddock.
 

The Belmont Stakes Trophy

The Belmont Stakes trophy is a Tiffany-made silver bowl, with cover, 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 representing the three foundation thoroughbreds — Eclipse, Herod and Matchem. The trophy, a solid silver bowl originally crafted by Tiffany's, 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 Belmont Stakes: Home to Triple Crown Winners

The history of the Triple Crown, which is central to American racing, is written in a century of defining moments in the Belmont Stakes, including Secretariat's world record, Seattle Slew's undefeated sweep of the series, and Affirmed's survival of his rival's last onslaught. Only 13 horses have won this most rare of American sporting titles, while some 34 have been eligible to try. At Belmont Park, almost every champion of the last century has carved his or her name into the venerable stone of racing legend.

Secretariat’s World Record at the 1973 Belmont Stakes

Secretariat’s 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes established the world record for a mile and a half on dirt at 2:24 and will forever be engraved into our memories. With his win in the Belmont, he became the ninth horse to capture the Triple Crown.
 

Recent Triple Crown Winners at Belmont Park: American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018)

After Affirmed's Triple Crown victory, a 37-year Triple Crown drought began. Then in 2015, along came American Pharoah. In front of a capped crowd of 90,000, the field of eight loaded into the gate. Everyone from the fans to staff to the Zayat family held their breath as the gates flew open. American Pharoah broke and went right to the lead at the first turn. Coming into the home stretch the crowd increasingly grew louder and louder cheering on the soon to be 12th Triple Crown Champion. Victor Espinoza opened him up as he made his “run for glory.” He glided across the finish line at a 5 ½ length victory and with a time of 2:26.65. It was the fastest Belmont stakes since Point Given in 2001 and the second fastest to Triple Crown winner, Secretariat. The crowed erupted in euphoria; the 37-year wait was finally over. Tears, laughing, and cheering amongst a most grateful Belmont crowd will be remembered for years to come.
 

>> Learn About All Triple Crown Winners <<

With a breathtaking, wire-to-wire tour de force under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, undefeated Justify became racing's 13th Triple Crown winner on June 9, 2018 at Belmont Park, sweeping to a 1 ¾-length victory over Gronkowski in the 150th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. The victory over Belmont Park's sweeping 1 ½-mile oval was the sixth straight for Justify, who joined Seattle Slew - also a wire-to-wire Belmont winner in 1977 - as the only undefeated winners of the Triple Crown. All six of the rangy chestnut colt's wins came in 2018, beginning with a maiden victory on February 18 at Santa Anita Park and culminating just shy of 16 weeks later in the Belmont.
 

Triple Crown Near Misses in the Belmont Stakes

From the storied upsets of Smarty Jones, Big Brown and Real Quiet, to California Chrome's recent loss in 2014, some 23 horses have missed their shot at winning the Triple Crown. But even the close calls have made history. The closest finishes in Belmont Stakes history were by a nose, including Victory Gallop's defeat of Real Quiet in 1998.
 

They Called It: A Celebration of NYRA Race Callers

A salute to some of the giants of the announcer’s booth, who have conveyed the magic and pageantry of racing at NYRA tracks for more than 90 years.

• Bryan Field: “(He was) a joyous, jovial, verbose and vibrant man who was absolutely certain that he was the best broadcaster of horse races who ever lived. He would have resented being called an egotist. In his ebullient way, it never occurred to him that he could be wrong about anything. Usually, he wasn’t.”
  • The New York Times on NYRA’s Bryan Field in 1968 tribute: Bryan Field was a sportswriter covering boxing, baseball, and track and field when The New York Times named him its turf writer in 1928. Knowing little about horse racing, he caught on quickly by taking a second job as a stablehand, arriving each dawn at the track to groom and hot-walk horses. By 1931, Field had mastered racing well enough to launch a broadcasting career—calling the races at Belmont Park and other New York tracks, and eventually broadcasting the Triple Crown, on radio and then television, through 1962.
• Fred “Cappy” Capossela: “I try to avoid hysteria. My job is that of a reporter.”
  • Legend has it that in 1991 Fred “Cappy” Capossela said to his son, “It is now post time,” and died a short time later. How fitting that Capossela used the signature phrase he made famous as NYRA’s head race caller for 37 years and as the “Voice of the Triple Crown” from 1950 to 1960 on CBS Television and Radio. Capossela’s commanding knowledge and cadence were standards at NYRA tracks from the 1930s through his retirement 1971; so were his prodigious memory and unerring accuracy. Capossela said he never called the races by numbers, but by memorizing the colors of the silks—thousands of them each year.
• Chic Anderson calling the 1973 Belmont Stakes, won by Secretariat: “They’re on the turn, and Secretariat is blazing along. The first three-quarters of a mile in 1:09 and four fifths. Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine. Secretariat by 12, Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn! Sham is dropping back. It looks like they’ll catch him today, as My Gallant and Twice a Prince are both coming up to him now. But Secretariat is all alone! He’s out there almost a sixteenth of a mile away from the rest of the horses! Secretariat is in a position that seems impossible to catch!”
  • Charles “Chic” Anderson, the voice of NYRA from 1977 until his untimely death in 1979, was the voice of the Triple Crown and generally acknowledged as the best race caller of his time. Before joining NYRA, Anderson called races at Churchill Downs, Santa Anita and Oaklawn, among others.
• Dave Johnson: “And down the stretch they come!”
  • Dave Johnson’s signature call during his tenure as NYRA race caller from 1972 to 1977 was straightforward and dramatic, and is still among the most recognizable calls in sports. Johnson portrayed himself as Belmont Park’s race caller in the 2007 film Ruffian.
• Marshall Cassidy calling the stretch run of the 1982 Belmont Stakes: “Headed into the stretch … Conquistador Cielo has complete control of this field by about five lengths. Linkage (is) on the outside, High Ascent on the inside, those two now heads apart. Gaining ground on the rail is Illuminate. On the outside, here comes Gato Del Sol. But they’re far as Conquistador Cielo (has) complete control of this Belmont Stakes (and) has the field by 15 lengths, maybe 20 lengths! Gato Del Sol is second.”
  • Throughout the 1980s, Marshall Cassidy was the silky-smooth voice of NYRA, noted for his accuracy and even-keeled delivery. “There is a lot of emotion of what he is seeing,” Cassidy once said of the typical racing guest. “He doesn’t need to hear a cheerleader whooping it up for horse he hasn’t bet on.” Cassidy later worked as a racing steward.
• Tom Durkin calling the 2004 Belmont Stakes: “Smarty Jones enters the stretch to the roar of 120,000! But Birdstone is gonna make him earn it today! The whip is out on Smarty Jones! It’s been 26 years; it’s just one furlong away! Birdstone is an unsung threat! They’re coming down to the finish! Can Smarty Jones hold on? Here comes Birdstone! Birdstone surges past! Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes!”
  • It was said that Tom Durkin’s calling was calling races. While there isn’t much debate that Durkin is among the best race callers in history, race fans prefer to discuss their favorite Durkin call.
  • Some cite the famous Belmont Stakes 2004 stretch run, referenced above. For others, it’s the call describing Rachel Alexandra’s stirring victory in the 2008 Woodward Stakes. Or it’s “Arrrrrr”—the name of a horse and not a misprint. Or it could be “Yakahickamickadola” from a 1989 Durkin call at Hialeah Race Course—the pronunciation changes throughout the race—which became a YouTube hit.
  • According to estimates, Durkin called 80,000 races in his 43-year career, 24 of which he spent at NYRA. From 1984 to 2005, Durkin called races at the Breeders’ Cup, and from 2001 for the next decade, gained further fame as the voice of the Triple Crown. Less known was his long-term commitment to the Backstretch Employees Service Team as a board member, fund raiser and regular bingo-night caller. For his career-long dedication, Durkin was awarded the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2015.
• Larry Collmus calling American Pharoah’s 2015 Belmont Stakes victory: “They’re into the stretch, and American Pharoah makes his run for glory as they come into the final furlong. Frosted is second. With one-eighth of a mile to go, American Pharoah’s got a two-length lead. Frosted is all out at the sixteenth pole. And here it is! The 37-year wait is over! American Pharoah is finally the one! American Pharoah has won the Triple Crown!”
  • Larry Collmus calling Justify’s 2018 Belmont Stakes victory: “He’s just perfect! And now he’s just immortal! Justify is the 13th Triple Crown winner! Justify has done it!”
  • NYRA’s race caller from 2014 to 2020, Larry Collmus is the voice of the Triple Crown on NBC. An NBC Television audience of 22 million caught his epic call in the 2015 Belmont Stakes in which American Pharoah captured the first Triple Crown in 37 years.
• John Imbriale: “In a sense, this is a job for which I’ve been preparing for years. I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by incredible race callers during my career. I learned from all of them and these lessons live with me to this day.”
  • Horse racing does not have a sixth man award like the NBA, but if it did NYRA would have named it after John Imbriale. Starting at NYRA to 1979 when he won a New York Daily News contest which gave him the opportunity to call a race and work with the NYRA press office, Imbriale has been an invaluable jack-of-all-trades.
  • Imbriale became Tom Durkin’s backup in 1990 and has since been part of NYRA’s race-calling team at all three tracks ever since. Along the way, the Queens native took on other responsibilities at NYRA, working with Harvey Pack on the popular Inside Racing program, and also behind the scenes in a variety of roles within NYRA TV, most recently as NYRA’s Director of Television Production.
  • “Frank Wright, Charlsie Cantey, Harvey Pack, Marshall Cassidy, Tom Durkin … I learned from all of them,” said Imbriale. “Tom taught me that the race makes the call. It’s not the other way around. He also told me not to listen to him calling a race because he believed it was important for a race caller to have his own style.”

Paul Moran on Belmont Park: “Racing’s Broadway”

The late Paul Moran served as Newsday's racing writer for over twenty years. Moran won a pair of Eclipse Awards for his work, honoring his work as the year's best. His piece on the history of Belmont Park is a loving encapsulation of a sport and facility he adored.

The heart of American racing, more than a century old, beats hard against the western edge of New York City, a modern-day Circus Maximus that became the nation’s most important racing venue on the day it opened and remains without peer." - Paul Moran

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