Belmont Stakes

With the first two races of horse racing’s Triple Crown already complete, it’s time to turn our attention to the third and final leg: the Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont Stakes is one of the most prestigious horse races in the world. Although it might not carry the same name brand appeal as the Kentucky Derby, it is certainly highly thought of in the thoroughbred racing industry.

These Triple Crown races have also become some of the largest sports betting events of the year. With just weeks separating all three races, they can be marked on the calendar as major sporting events like the Super Bowl or March Madness.

With this year’s Belmont Stakes coming up on June 7th, 2025, it’s time to get familiar with the final race in the Triple Crown.

The Belmont Stakes is the oldest of the three Triple Crown races, dating back to its inaugural run in 1867. It predates both the Preakness Stakes which was founded in 1873 and the Kentucky Derby in 1875. The very first Belmont Stakes race was held at the Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx, New York.

This race was named after a key figure in the development of horse racing in America: August Belmont Sr. Belmont was heavily involved in US politics and thoroughbred racing. He served for more than twenty years as the President of the National Jockey Club and owned a horse-breeding farm in New York called the Nursery Stud.

The inaugural Belmont Stakes race was won by a filly named Ruthless. It was a significant and historic result for Ruthless because in the 155 runnings of the Belmont Stakes since, only two other fillies have ever won the race.

Since the Belmont Stakes is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, it has earned the nickname the ‘Test of the Champion’. Many horses have won the first two legs and failed at the Belmont. Why? The Belmont Stakes is a gruelling race. At twelve furlongs in length, it is two furlongs longer than the Kentucky Derby and two and a half furlongs longer than the Preakness Stakes.

The Belmont Stakes initially started at the Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx, New York. Since then, it has moved to several other locations around New York. Last year, the Belmont Stakes moved to a temporary home at the Saratoga Racecourse in Elmont, New York. Currently, Belmont Park is under construction, and it is not expected to be complete until the third quarter of 2026. Therefore, it is likely that next year’s Belmont Stakes will also take place at Saratoga.

Here are the other locations where the Belmont Stakes has taken place:

1867-1889 - Jerome Park Racetrack

1890-1904 - Morris Park Racecourse

1905-1910 - First Belmont Park

1911-1912 - Not held due to Hart-Agnew Law

1913-1962 - First Belmont Park

1963-1967 - Aqueduct

1968-2023 - Second Belmont Park

2024-2025 - Saratoga Racecourse

The Triple Crown is one of the most iconic achievements in professional sports. To win, a three-year-old colt or filly needs to win all three jewels: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. Each race is a different distance, making it difficult to use the same strategy three times.

Not only is it a crowning achievement in the sport, but it is also one of the most difficult to complete. Since the Triple Crown was first introduced in 1919, only 13 horses have won all three races in the same year.

How difficult is it to win the Triple Crown? No horse managed to win all three races between the years of 1978 and 2015. There was another noticeable gap between the years of 1948 and 1973. Even if a horse has extraordinary abilities, it only has one shot to win the Triple Crown at the age of three.

In 2024, the winning horse was a three-year-old colt named Dornoch. It was a highly successful year for Dornoch, who won three races in total: the Belmont Stakes, the Haskell Stakes, and the Fountain of Youth Stakes. Following the victories, Dornoch was retired to stud as he was diagnosed with bone bruises.

It was the second time that Dornoch’s jockey, Luis Saez, had won the Belmont Stakes. Saez previously won the race in 2021 with the horse Essential Quality. Dornoch had no shot at winning the Triple Crown. He placed tenth at the Kentucky Derby and did not even race in the Preakness Stakes.

Of course, when it comes to horse racing, it’s all about the purse. Winners of the Belmont Stakes are paid handsomely, with the 2025 purse sitting at $2 million. But some other traditions come with winning the race.

Another nickname for the Belmont Stakes is the ‘Run for the Carnations’. This is because the winning horse is draped with a blanket of white carnation flowers. It is similar to the tradition of the winning horse being draped with a blanket of red roses for the Kentucky Derby and black-eyed Susans for the Preakness Stakes.

The winner also receives the August Belmont Jr. trophy, which was first handed out in 1896. Finally, the winning horse and jockey are cemented in Thoroughbred Racing history as a Belmont Stakes champion.

As with any of the Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes is a major betting event on the American sports calendar. Since it is the last of the three races, bettors can wager on the race itself or on whether a horse will win the Triple Crown. Of course, to win that bet, the horse will need to have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes first.

Some popular other betting methods for horse racing include the following:

Horse to Win Betting

This is the most popular way to bet on horse racing. In Horse to Win Betting, bettors simply select which horse they believe will win the race outright. It can be the favourite with the highest odds or the lowest underdog. If that horse wins, the bettor collects their winnings based on how much they initially wagered.

Each Way Betting

An Each Way bet is unique to horse racing. It allows a bettor to bet on a horse to finish in one of three spots, usually first, second, or third. If the horse finishes in one of those spots, the bettor will collect winnings at varying odds. The stake for this type of bet is double. A $20 Each Way bet would be a $40 total stake.

Accumulator Betting

You can think of an Accumulator bet as a sort of same-game parlay on a single race. Bettors can wager on multiple horses to place in a race. Just like with a parlay, the horses all need to place according to the bet for the bet to pay out.

Exacta Betting

In horse racing, an Exacta bet is betting on which horses will come first and second in the race in that order. It is a difficult bet to win, but it can pay out well given the high odds. Even a minimum wager of one or two dollars can pay out hundreds if the odds are right!