Belmont
is a Big Track
The biggest race of Belmont Park's Spring/Summer Meet in 2001 will be the 133rd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half third and final leg of racing's Triple Crown for three-year-olds on Saturday, June 9. And it will again be the biggest - Test of Champions - for Triple Crown participants. Trainer Bob Baffert could send one of his accomplished three-year-olds, including Wood Memorial winner Congaree and Santa Anita Derby winner Point Given, in the race that has not only eluded him four times, but cost him two Triple Crowns - and his owners $10 million in Visa bonus money. Those losses were by the narrowest of margins. In 1997, Baffert came to town with Silver Charm, who appeared destined to be the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. But jockey Gary Stevens did not see Touch Gold and his jockey, Chris McCarron, in time. By the time Silver Charm got racing again, Touch Gold crossed the line a three-quarter-length winner.The next year, Baffert came back with Real Quiet and jockey Kent Desormeaux, who again appeared to be the next Triple Crown winner. But this time, Stevens, aboard Victory Gallop, got up to win by a nose. So, there is drama in the Belmont Stakes, which brings up another major point: the Belmont Stakes is, frankly, the best single-day sports value in New York. Admission does not change on Belmont Stakes day; it is $2 for general admission and $4 for clubhouse admission. Fans have picked up on that fact; in 1997, '98, and '99, the respective crowds were 70,682; 80,162; and a record 85,818. Last year, without a Triple Crown at stake and with Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and New York Mets engaged in a midsummer 'Subway Series,' 67,810 came out to see the Belmont Stakes. The Belmont Stakes has its own pageantry. There is excitement all day long, with a stakes-studded race card, live television coverage provided by WNBC from 1:30 - 2 p.m., ESPN's Belmont Stakes Special coverage from 3-5 p.m., and NBC's national broadcast from 5-6:30 p.m. Eastern. But when the first strains of 'New York, New York' begin, the crowd becomes downright electric. Already alive with the energy of late spring, Belmont Park becomes super-charged on Belmont Stakes Day. Everything - including the blanket of 400 white carnations that drapes the Belmont Stakes winner - seems more vivid. Belmont Stakes Day is one big party that begins at 12:30 p.m., and it comes complete with its own signature cocktail (the Belmont Breeze), a guaranteed Pick Six of $1 million, and even an opportunity for a lucky fan to have his or her name drawn to bet $5,000 on the Belmont Stakes.
As with any great event, there is plenty of build-up before the show. The Belmont Stakes Festival actually began on April 13, with the annual Belmont Stakes Festival Fair at Belmont Park, which ran through May 6. The action picks up on Friday, May 25, with the first of Friday 'Breakfast at Belmont' school visits through June 8. Saturday, May 26, it's time to get down with a hoedown at Belmont Park Hosts Country Day. Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day, and the featured race is one of the most important in racing, the Grade 1, $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap. The Met Mile is certain to draw fans, who will be given a free Belmont T-shirt with each paid admission, while supplies last. Saturday, June 2, will find Belmont Park acting as host to the 'World of Horses.' There will be a parade of breeds at noon, followed by exhibitions of trick riding, dressage, gymkhana, and other equestrian forms. Following the races, the Belmont Festival Parade will be held in Floral Park at 7 p.m. The Floral Park Youth Council's 5K run and Nathan's hot dog-eating contest will be the attractions here on Sunday, June 3. Charities will benefit on Tuesday, June 5, with the Belmont Stakes Festival Charity Golf Tournament at Piping Rock, and on Thursday, June 7, with the Belmont Stakes Festival Luncheon and Fashion Show at the Garden City Hotel. Also on Thursday, New York's jockey colony will visit New Hyde Park's Ronald McDonald House, a facility that provides lodging for parents of seriously ill children who are undergoing treatment at nearby Long Island Jewish Hospital.
Fans taking advantage of the Sunset Racing card on Friday, June 8, will be treated to 'Broadway at Belmont,' where stars of the Great White Way perform hit numbers from top shows between races. That day, the featured race is the Grade 1, $200,000 Acorn, the one-mile first leg of Belmont's 'Triple Tiara' for three-year-old fillies. Also on Friday will be the $75,000-added Flash for two-year-olds at five furlongs. The Flash was recently upgraded to Grade 3 status. After the races, the action shifts to downtown Garden City, where the Belmont Stakes Festival takes full flight at 7 p.m. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. on Belmont Stakes Day, and fans will crowd the backyard area to claim picnic tables and their favorite spots for a big day of racing. Naturally, the Belmont Stakes is the main attraction, but the card that day also features the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap at a mile and a quarter on the turf; the Grade 2, $150,000 True North Handicap at six furlongs for three-year-olds and up; the Grade 2, $150,000 Riva Ridge for three-year-olds at six furlongs; and the Grade 3, $175,000-added Just A Game Breeders' Cup for fillies and mares at a mile on the turf. The Grade 2, $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap for three-year-olds and up at nine furlongs is the stakes finale for Belmont Stakes Weekend on Sunday, June 10. In addition to the Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park hosts many of Thoroughbred racing's top events. The first Grade 1 at Belmont Park in 2001 will be the 108th running of the $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Monday, May 28. The Met Mile is the traditional Memorial Day feature and ranks as one of racing's most important and prestigious events.
The 'Triple Tiara,' which also includes the Grade 1, $250,000 Mother Goose at nine furlongs on Saturday, June 30, and the Grade 1, $350,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at a mile and a half on Saturday, July 21, remains the biggest test for three-year-old fillies in the spring. In recent years, however, it was clear that not all members of this division were mature enough to answer the challenge. Many found refuge by running in the six-furlong Prioress on July 4. The Prioress, however, has become an important race on its own, and thus was given Grade 1 status for 2001. The $200,000 event proved its usefulness last year when its fourth-place finisher, Dream Supreme, came back to win the Grade 1 Test, Grade 1 Ballerina, and the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom. The Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap for three-year-olds and up at a mile and a quarter will be run on Sunday, July 1. And, of course, Belmont Park will again host the Breeders' Cup Championship this year on October 27. |
There
are 11 Thoroughbreds that have won racing's Triple Crown, sweeping
the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes. There are 15 others
who came close, only to lose their chance at immortality in the Belmont
Stakes.
This series of articles was orignally printed in the June, 2001 issue of the Hudson Valley Magazine.