Belmont Stakes Contenders

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The Belmont Stakes, first run in 1867, is the oldest of the three Triple Crown races. It predates the Preakness Stakes by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight. This year's race, on June 7th, is the 140th running of the event.

The Belmont Stakes is the fourth oldest stakes race in North America. The Phoenix Stakes, now run at Keeneland as the Phoenix Breeders' Cup, was first run in 1831. The Queen's Plate at Woodbine has been run since 1860, while the Travers Stakes at Saratoga made its debut in 1864.

The Belmont Stakes was originally run at 1 5/8 miles. The distance changed twice before 1926, when the present distance of 1 1/2 miles (12 furlongs) was established. The "Test of the Champion" is the longest of the three Triple Crown races.

Last year Rags to Riches became the third filly - and the first in 102 years - to capture the Belmont Stakes. Ruthless won the first running in 1867 and Tanya won in 1905.

Only 22 fillies have ever entered the Belmont Stakes. Last year's winner Rags to Riches was the first since Silverbulletday, who finished 7th in 1999.

The Belmont Stakes was first held at the Jerome Park Race Course. In 1890 it moved to Morris Park. The race remained there until the May 1905 opening of Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The Belmont Stakes was originally run clockwise in keeping with the English tradition. It wasn't until 1921 that track officials switched the direction of the race.

Secretariat's 1973 Belmont victory set a race record that still stands (2:24). Additionally, his margin of victory of 31 lengths is not only the race record, but the largest in the history of American Grade 1 stakes races.

The fewest starters in the Belmont Stakes is 2 (in 1887, 1888, 1892, 1910 and 1920) while the most is 15 (in 1983).

The post parade that preceded the Belmont Stakes in 1880 was a new idea in horse racing to lure spectators and gamblers to the track. It met with immediate success and was adopted by racetracks across the country.

At the top of the list of the 12 Belmont Stakes winners who have sired another Belmont winner is Man O' War (1920). He sired three winners - American Flag (1925), Crusader (1926) and War Admiral (1937).

The richest Belmont Stakes purse ever, in 1992, totaled $1,764,800. The purse for the first running was $2,500.

Thirty-one horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown coming into the Belmont Stakes but only eleven have succeeded.

In the past 11 years, 6 horses won the Derby-Preakness double but were denied racing immortality in the Belmont Stakes. In his 1998 attempt, Real Quiet missed by a nose.

The largest crowd in New York racing history attended the Belmont Stakes in 2004, hoping to see Smarty Jones become the 12th Triple Crown winner. Unfortunately, he lost by a length to Birdstone.

Of the 139 runnings of the Belmont Stakes, 60 have been won by the race favorite (43.8 percent). However, only five favorites have won in the past 25 years (20 percent).

The most common color of winning horses at the Belmont Stakes is bay (53 winners), followed closely by chestnut (51 winners). High Echelon is the only roan to have won the race.

Since 1905, the Belmont Stakes post position with the most wins is 1 (23 wins) and the second most wins are 3 and 5 (13 wins each). Positions 10 and 11 are tied for last place (2 wins each).

The most popular first initial for winning Belmont runners is C (20 wins), the second most popular is S (17 wins) and the least popular are U, X, and Y (0 wins each).

Only nine horses bred outside the United States have won the Belmont Stakes. The latest was Victory Gallop (1998), who was bred in Canada.

Consecutive riding victories have been accomplished seven times in the Belmont Stakes. The latest jockey with back-to-back wins was Ron Turcotte, who rode to victory on Riva Ridge in 1972 and Secretariat in 1973.

Jockey James McLaughlin won three consecutive Belmont Stakes not just once, but twice - from 1882 to 1884 and again from 1886 to 1888. More recently, Laffit Pincay Jr. had a winning streak from 1982 to 1984.

Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro rode in every Belmont Stakes from 1938 to 1960 except one (in 1943 he was serving a year's suspension). He won six times.

The smallest win price in Belmont Stakes history is $2.10 on a $2 wager (paid by Count Fleet in 1943); the largest win price is $142.50 (paid by Sarava in 2002).

Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading female jockey, Julie Krone, is the only woman to have ridden in the Belmont Stakes.

There has been an odds-on favorite in 30 runnings of the Belmont Stakes. Twelve of them won, ten came second and three came third.

When 18-year-old jockey Fernando Jara guided Jazil to victory in 2006, he became one of the youngest jockeys ever to win the Belmont Stakes.

When Rags to Riches won last year's Belmont Stakes, she ended long droughts in Triple Crown races for both her trainer and jockey - Todd Pletcher was 0-for-28 and John Velazquez was 0-for-20.

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