Oh, the Belmont Stakes. Who knew something as simple as a change in venue would get an entire community up in arms about it? Well, when you take the famed third and longest leg of the Triple Crown race and move it upstate to Saratoga Race Course, that is precisely how horse racing fans will react. Many have asked, couldn’t the renovations have just waited? But at what cost would pushing back the renovations come if they continued on with Belmont just as they have done every year before?
Heading Upstate: Belmont Stakes to Saratoga Racetrack
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Change in venue? Check. Cause an uproar? Check. Mass confusion? Check. That is exactly what the New York Racing Association accomplished with the announcement that the 2024 Belmont Stakes would not be run at Belmont this year. Still, the race would take place upstate at Saratoga Race Course. The single most common question is why the racetrack couldn’t wait until the end of the Triple Crown to do the renovations.
Imagine that you own a very expensive horse. Would you want to risk your horse’s health and life to win a race? No? I didn’t think so. That is what the NYRA is avoiding by having Saratoga Race Course play host to the final leg of the Triple Crown for 2024 and 2025. They value all participants and understand what this race brings to Belmont. Occasionally, any racetrack will eventually undergo renovations and reconstruction to make improvements.
A Rematch in the Making
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All eyes are going to be on the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 8, 2024, to see which of these two jewel winners will take the final jewel in the Triple Crown. Will it be the Kentucky Derby winner, Mystik Dan? Or will it be Preakness Stakes winner, Seize the Grey? Or will it be neither of them? Mystik Dan recently lost his quest to be the next Triple Crown winner. Can he prove that it is better than his performance at the Preakness Stakes two weeks ago? Will Seize the Grey showcase himself once again and prove he has what it takes to have been in the Kentucky Derby?
Seize the Grey and Mystik Dan won’t be the only winners from big races attempting to win the Belmont Stakes. This year’s Kentucky Oaks winner and stablemate to Mystik Dan, Thorpedo Anna, will try to show that even a filly can win one of the biggest races in all of horse racing. It is sure to be a sight to see. But with Mystik Dan running in the Belmont Stakes, who is going to saddle up and jockey Thorpedo Anna?
Unfornately none of these three big winners are favored to win the famed race in Saratoga. Mystik Dan is 5-1, Seize the Grey is 6-1, and meanwhile miss Thorpedo Anna is at 10-1 odds. Sierra Leone and Fierceness are the top two horses that are tapped to be the ones to be drapped with the beauiful garland of carnations. Many from Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky will have their eyes on the Belmont because it is Seize the Grey from the Jeff Ruby Stakes that looks to capture the final jewel of the Triple Crown. Many around property call him Turfway’s horse.
History and facts of the Belmont Stakes
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The Belmont Stakes are held in June each year, five weeks after the Run for the Roses in Kentucky (The Kentucky Derby) and three weeks after the running of the Preakness Stakes. The Belmont Stakes is referred to as the Test of Champions as it is the longest race in the Triple Crown, running at a mile and a half long. The final jewel in the Triple Crown is also nicknamed the Run for the Carnations, the official flower of Belmont.
Did you know that Secritariat still holds the track record at Belmont? No, other horse has come to running Belmont as fast at he did (2:22 post to post). The first race to ever occur at Belmont was held on June 19, 1867. This year will mark the race’s 156th run. Yes it is older than both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Did you know that a filly was the first horse that won the first ever race at Belmont Park? Maybe Thorpedo Anna is looking into the past and seeing that it is possible for a filly to again with this famed race.
Prior to the year 1931, Belmont was not always the last race, nor was the term “triple crown” widely used prior to then either. It wasn’t until 1931 that the roster for the Triple Crown races would be set, with the Kentucky Derby leading off, followed two weeks later by the Preakness Stakes, and capping everything off at Belmont Park. Matter of fact, there are eleven separate times where Belmont ran before the Preakness.
About the Author
Amanda Bentle is a mother with many talents under her belt. She is also a wife, co-worker, friend, daughter and sister. Writing is something that has always come naturally to her. Amanda is able to share her love of many hobbies as she is not a one-hobby kind of gal, with her husband and son. Not only is Amanda a master of many talents and hobbies but one of the many things she loves as much as her little family are the cats and dogs that she has rescued and welcomed into her little family over the last seven to ten years.
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