Fansided

Triple Crown 2015: How long is the Belmont Stakes?

By Patrick Schmidt

Jun 7, 2014; Elmont, NY, USA; Victor Espinoza aboard California Chrome (2) is led out before the start of the 2014 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 7, 2014; Elmont, NY, USA; Victor Espinoza aboard California Chrome (2) is led out before the start of the 2014 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The third leg of the triple crown is the longest for the horses and the Belmont Stakes has seen triple crown bids come to a halt, so just how long is it?

There have been 23 horses to win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes and only had the Belmont Stakes standing in the way of making history and becoming one of the triple crown winners. And 23 times those horses have fell victim to the longest trek of the triple crown.

The Kentucky Derby tests the horses over one and one-quarter of a mile or two kilometers at Churchill Downs, the Preakness Stakes runs one and three-sixteenths of a mile or 1.9 kilometers, but the course at Belmont Park is a grueling one and a half miles or 2.4 kilometers.

Asking a horse to win the Derby and Preakness and then the Belmont Stakes within a five-week time period is like asking the Olympic gold medal winner in the 400 meters to then go out and win the mile. It is a grueling, taxing and often insurmountable task that has only been done 12 times in the history of the triple crown and not since Affirmed won in 1978.

California Chrome came close to snapping the streak last year when he won the first two legs before finishing in fourth place to Tonalist in last year’s race when his endurance and stamina had tapped out to a field with fresh horses.

It’s no wonder then that the race has been nicknamed The Test of the Champion. The ultimate champion in horse racing, Secretariat, holds the track and world record with a time of 2:24 he turned in to win the race in 1973 and capture the triple crown.

American Pharoah will try to make history after winning the Derby and Preakness with a historic run at Belmont Park in three Saturday’s, but do you think the big, powerful horse can hold up and have enough left in the tank to be the first horse since 1978 to win the triple crown?

More from Belmont Stakes

Home/Belmont Stakes