Throughout the history of the Belmont Stakes, bay horses have earned the most victories with 61. Chestnuts are close behind with 53 wins, followed by 30 dark bay or brown. Only three gray/roan horses had won the Belmont prior to 2016 (Belmar in 1895, Native Dancer in 1953 and High Echelon in 1970), but in 2016 gray horses swept the top three positions (Creator, Destin and Lani) and in 2021, the gray champion Essential Quality wore the carnations before Arcangelo emerged victorious in 2023.
Horses registered as black have won three times, and a single roan horse has worn the blanket of carnations.
Fourteen Belmont Stakes winners have sired at least one Belmont winner. Man o' War, who won in 1920, sired three winners — American Flag, Crusader, and Triple Crown winner War Admiral. Four Belmont winners have sired two winners -- Commando (1901) sired Peter Pan (1907) and Colin (1908), Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox (1930) sired Triple Crown winner Omaha (1935) and Granville (1936), Triple Crown winner Count Fleet (1943) sired Counterpoint (1951) and One Count (1952) and Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (1977) sired Swale (1984) and A.P. Indy (1992). Also, A.P. Indy sired 2007 winner Rags to Riches.
Nine winners have sired one winner -- Duke of Magenta (1878) sired Eric (1889), Spendthrift (1879) sired Hastings (1896), Hastings (1896) sired Masterman (1902), The Finn (1915) sired Zev (1923), Sword Dancer (1959) sired Damascus (1967), Secretariat (1973) sired Risen Star (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995) sired Point Given (2001), A.P. Indy (1992) sired Rags to Riches (2007) and Birdstone (2004) sired Summer Bird (2009).
Nine horses bred outside the United States have won the Belmont Stakes – 1874, Saxon (England); 1898, Bowling Brook (England); 1917, Hourless (England); 1918, Johren (England); 1957, Gallant Man (England); 1958, Cavan (Ireland); 1960, Celtic Ash (England); 1990, Go and Go (Ireland); 1998, Victory Gallop (Canada).
Kentucky Derby has produced the most Belmont winners by far at 106, followed by Virginia with 11, New Jersey at seven, England with six, Florida with six, New York with four, Pennsylvania and Tennessee with three, California, Maryland, Texas and Ireland with two each, and Montana and Canada with one a piece.
Overall, 36 horses have been eligible to capture the Triple Crown, and just thirteen succeeded. Eight finished second -- Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958), Forward Pass (1968), Majestic Prince (1969), Sunday Silence (1989), Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), and Smarty Jones (2004). Five finished third -- Northern Dancer (1964), Spectacular Bid (1979), Pleasant Colony (1981), Charismatic (1999), and Funny Cide (2003). Four finished fourth -- Kauai King (1966), Canonero II (1971), Alysheba (1987), and California Chrome (2014). Carry Back (1961) finished seventh, War Emblem (2002) finished eighth, and Big Brown (2008) did not finish.
Three Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners did not race in the Belmont -- Burgoo King (1932), Bold Venture (1933), and I'll Have Another (2012), though I'll Have Another was injured and was scratched the day before his Belmont Stakes in 2012.
So far through 2024, 2091 horses have started in the Belmont Stakes.
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