Oldest Triple Crown Event
The Belmont Stakes, first run in 1867, is the oldest of the Triple Crown events. It predates the Preakness Stakes (first run in 1873) by six years and the Kentucky Derby (first run in 1875) by eight. This year is the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes.

Smallest and largest fields
There has never been a walkover in the Belmont. There have been five two-horses fields: 1887, 1888, 1892, 1910 and when Man o’War won in 1920. The largest field was 15 in 1983, when Caveat defeated Slew o’ Gold.

Largest attendance
A New York record crowd of 120,139 attended the 2004 Belmont Stakes. Longshot Birdstone won; Smarty Jones failed to win the Visa Triple Crown.

Winners post positions (since 1905)
1 - (23) 3 - (13) 5 - (13) 7 - (11) 9 - (4) 11 - (2)
2 - (11) 4 - ( 9) 6 - ( 7) 8 - ( 6) 10 - (2)

Letter of winners
“C” is the most popular first initial for winning Belmont runners.

Color of winners
Chestnut - 50
Bay - 53
Dark Bay or Brown - 29
Black - 3
Gray - 2
Roan - 1

New York, New York
“New York, New York” has been performed as the field for the Belmont Stakes makes its way to the starting gate since 1997. The song,which was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, has been performed by many big-name entertainers for decades, including the late Frank Sinatra and Liza Minelli. “Sidewalks of New York” was performed prior to 1997.