Belmont Stakes 2018 – Date, Participants and Complete Triple Crown History
0
Quick Gist about Belmont Stakes
Location : Belmont Park; Elmont, New York, United States
Sport Type : horse race
Race type : Thoroughbred
Track : Left-handed
Distance : 1 1⁄2 miles (12 furlongs) (2,414 m)
Surface : Dirt
Qualification : 3-year-olds
Weight : Colt/Gelding: 126 pounds (57 kg); Filly: 121 pounds (55 kg)
Inaugurated : 1867 (151 years ago)
Website : belmontstakes.com
Glimpse about the Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race held each June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is an American Grade I stakes. Stretching for 2.4 km (1.5-mile long), the Belmont Stakes is open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds (The Thoroughbred is a stallion breed which is very well known for its utilization in horse racing. In spite of the fact that the word thoroughbred is once in a while used to allude to any type of pure breed horse, it actually alludes just to the Thoroughbred breed.) Colts and geldings bear a weight of 57 kg (126 pounds); fillies can bear 55 kg (121 pounds). The Belmont Stakes which is also nicknamed as The Test of the Champion, or also the Run for the Carnations, is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown (a title awarded to a three-year-old Thoroughbred horse who wins the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes as well.) The race is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The winner of 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown, Secretariat holds the mile and a half stakes record (it is also a track and world record on dirt) of 2:24.
We can see one of the highest numbers of crowds at the Belmont Stakes for a American thoroughbred racing in this event. The Belmont Stakes event of 2004 had a huge television audience of 21.9 million viewers. This is also the highest household viewing rate since the year 1977 in which Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown.
Sadly enough, it seems like for three years back to back, teams and horses came to the Belmont Stakes fighting for the Triple Crown only to fail. Talking about the past, in 2002, Belmont Park served what was then the highest number of visitors and crowd in its history. In the race, 103,222 saw loose War Emblem and longshot Sarava win after stumbling at the start. Later in 2003, a total of 101,864 watched Funny Cide finish third behind Empire Maker. Continuing in 2004, the attendance record was once again shattered when a whooping 120,139 people got the sight of Smarty Jones upset by Birdstone.
Rags to Riches became the first filly to win the race in 2007 since Tanya who had won in 1905. After this, three more Triple Crown bids followed which again failed : Big Brown lost to Da’ Tara in the year 2008. I’ll Have Another was withdrawn due to injury in the year 2012 and finally California Chrome was beaten by Tonalist in 2014. Seeing these multiple fails, it fueled debates about whether the series needed to be changed. People and media were discussing for changes like – by increasing the time duration between each races.
Working very hard and breaking the curse, American Pharoah finally won the 2015 race, becoming the 12th horse in history who has won the Triple Crown. This had occurred for the first time in the span of 37 years. Unfortunately, in that year, the crowd was record breakingly less. Only a limited amount of 90,000 attendees were present. The time taken by him to finish was 2:26.65 which is the sixth-fastest in Belmont Stakes history it is also the second-fastest time for a Triple Crown winner.
Everything you need to know about Belmont Stakes 2018
The 150th Belmont Stakes (Belmont Stakes 2018) will take place on Saturday, 9th June 2018 and for 107th time the event will take place at Belmont Park. For Belmont Stakes 2018 race event, entries will be taken on 6th June 2018. In the race, the horse Justify will attempt to become the first horse to win the American Triple Crown which was last done by American Pharoah in the year 2015. Justify is expected to compete against other horses that he already beaten him previously in various races like the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, and in addition to this, a few “new shooters” who have never competed against him will also be taking part.
Post Positions for the Belmont Stakes 2018
1. Justify, ML: 4-5
2. Free Drop Billy, ML: 30-1
3. Bravazo, ML: 8-1
4. Hofburg, ML: 9-2
5. Restoring Hope, ML: 30-1
6. Gronkowski, ML: 12-2
7. Tenfold, ML: 12-1
8. Vino Rosso, ML: 8-1
9. Noble Indy, ML: 30-1
10. Blended Citizen, ML: 30-1
Full post positions and odds for Belmont Stakes pic.twitter.com/nVwCsf6NLS
— Alicia Wincze Hughes (@BH_AHughes) June 5, 2018
List of competitors for Belmont Stakes in 2018 include (Expected)
Bravazo – sixth in the Derby, second in the Preakness, winner of the Risen Star Stakes
Tenfold – third in the Preakness
Hofburg – seventh in the Derby
Vino Rosso – ninth in the Derby, winner of the Wood Memorial
Noble Indy – 17th in the Kentucky Derby, winner of the Louisiana Derby
Free Drop Billy – 16th in the Derby, winner of the Breeders’ Futurity
Gronkowski – a multiple stakes winner in Europe
Blended Citizen – winner of the Peter Pan Stakes
For the 2018 race event, Audible who finished had finished third in the Derby and could have been one of Justify’s top competitors in the Belmont Stakes 2018, is not being considered for the race. Even though the two colts have different trainers, both the horses share common ownership which is WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing and Head of Plains Partners. This hints that the owners did not want to complicate things and increase pressure on Justify in his Triple Crown bid.
