POINT OF FACT
? How did the Belmont get its name?
•The Belmont is named after August Belmont Sr. He was the first president of Jerome Park, for 12 years chairman of the Democratic National Committee and for four years U.S. representative at The Hague. He won the third running of the Belmont Stakes with Fenian, and the trophy he received after that race is now the perpetual trophy for the Belmont. He died in 1890, but the Belmont name remained influential in Thoroughbred racing. His son, August Jr., founded Belmont Park, was elected early in 1895 the chairman of The Jockey Club and was a member of the first New York State Racing Commission. He bred many famous horses including Man o' War and won the Belmont Stakes with Hastings (1896), Masterman (1902), Friar Rock (1916) and Hourless (1917). Belmont Park opened in 1905 and, fittingly, the first race was won by August Belmont Jr.
? a) When was the Belmont first run? b) Who won the inaugural?
•a) The Belmont was first run at Jerome Park in 1867, six years before the first running of the Preakness and eight years before the first Kentucky Derby, b) The winner was a bay filly, Ruthless, who became known as the "greatest filly of the sixties." She earned $1,850 in the race for her owner, Francis Morris, and raced in the same all-scarlet silks that Morris' great-grandson John uses today.
? Has any other filly ever won the Belmont?
•Only one, Harry Payne Whitney's Tanya, who won in 1905.
? What horses won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but failed in the Belmont?
•Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958) and Carry Back (1961) are the three horses that won the first two legs of the Triple Crown but failed in the third. Pensive and Tim Tam were both owned by Calumet Farm and both finished second in the Belmont. Burgoo King (1932) and Bold Venture (1936) won the Derby and the Preakness, but did not start in the Belmont.