Belmont Park Fact Sheet

Belmont Park is situated just outside New York City, in the hamlet of Elmont, New York in Nassau County on Long Island. It has an elegant edifice and is considered as one of the major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the world. Belmont Park is also known as The Championship Track. Almost every major thoroughbred champion in racing history has competed on its 2,414 meter or 1 ½ mile long dirt race course: the largest dirt course track in the world. Its impressive roster of participants already includes 11 Triple Crown winners. In addition to that, Belmont Park is also the famous home of the Belmont Stakes and sponsors the third leg of the Triple Crown (officially titled as the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.)

Locally nicknamed “Beautiful Belmont Park,” this scrupulously landscaped horse track has been in service since the early part of 1905 and is often considered as one of the most elite race tracks in racing history. It is operated by the New York Racing Association or NYRA.

Belmont Stakes

It is said that the park was named after August Belmont II, a key member of the Westchester Racing Association; which, by the way, was the organization that eventually helped popularized Belmont Park as a reckoning force in the race horse industry. The Belmont Stakes, however, was named after August Belmont, Sr., father of the previously mentioned Belmont, and an avid sportsman who became the primary financier of most of the thoroughbred races in his day.

The Belmont Stakes is a very prestigious American Grade I stakes race. It is an annual event, held every June in Belmont Park, and is the main wagering avenue for the third leg of the Triple Crown. The first two legs of the Triple Crown are held in Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, respectively. Also known as the “Run for the Carnations” (a reference to the blanket of white carnations that is always awarded to the winner), the Belmont Stakes is a 1.5 mile or 2.4 km thoroughbred horse race limited only to three-year old colts, fillies and geldings.

Aside from conducting qualifying races for the different horse racing divisions, and hosting the annual Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park also hosts the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, like it did in 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2005. Going to Belmont Park to watch the races is an experience in itself, with its grand architecture and its infectious racing atmosphere. However, if you find yourself unable to “graze” the race tracks, the easiest and fastest way to place a wager at the Belmont Stakes or any ongoing race at the park is through online betting stations.

Jimmy Mayon (MBA, BSEE) is a technologist with an enthusiasm for Horse Racing. During the last 25 years he has been managing banking and online transaction processing technologies for private and public sectors. Today he specializes in open source development using Java, PHP, Linux, and MySQL.

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