WHO: The New York Racing Association stages a five-day racing festival from June 4-8, featuring 27 stakes races totaling $11,275,000 in purses – including the Belmont Stakes.
WHAT: The highlight of the festival is the 157th running of the $2 million Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown
WHERE: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, New York
WHEN: The Belmont Stakes is Saturday, June 7 (post time TBD)
WHY: The Belmont Stakes completes the Triple Crown season. The first two races, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, were run on May 3 and May 17. The Belmont is being held at Saratoga while Belmont Park is undergoing a rebuild.
WHERE TO WATCH: FOX Sports
BELMONT STAKES DAY UNDERCARD: The Metropolitan Handicap, the Jaipur Stakes, the Woody Stephens Stakes, and the Manhattan Stakes.
FUN FACTS: The Belmont Stakes is traditionally run at 1 ½ miles and is referred to as the “Test of the Champion’’ because of long distance. For the second year in a row, the race is at Saratoga and will be run at 1 ¼ miles as Belmont Park is being rebuilt ... Last year, Dornoch won the Belmont Stakes; one of the co-owners is Jayson Werth, the former baseball star with the Philadelphia Phillies ... The last Kentucky Derby-Belmont Stakes winner was Thunder Gulch in 1995 ... The last Preakness Stakes-Belmont Stakes winner was Afleet Alex in 2005.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
