I read with interest Tom Dimopoulos’s piece about NYRA considering the Belmont Stakes, 2024, be held at Saratoga Racecourse. That’s an exciting prospect for Saratoga Springs, however I’m wondering why NYRA isn’t considering running this third jewel of the Triple Crown at Aqueduct. This race was contested at Aqueduct in the 1960s at 1.5 miles. If it was run at Saratoga, the race would be a mile and a quarter, the same distance as the Kentucky Derby.
These three distances -- 1-1/4 miles for the Derby, a mile and an eighth at the Preakness and 1.5 miles for the Belmont -- are the ultimate challenge for top thoroughbreds. To win the Triple Crown, a horse must excel at all three distances -- a rare occurrence at that level in horse racing. Consequently, the few horses that have won all three races are legends in their own time.
It seems if the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes are each run at 1-1/4 miles, a potential Triple Crown winner would have a tarnished title, since he wasn’t tested at the grueling 1.5 miles of the Belmont. That is the race that, because of its distance, is often a heartbreaker for the horse that has won the Derby and the Preakness and is beaten in the Belmont.
Hurrah for Saratoga if they opt to run the Belmont Stakes here, but I hope NYRA considers the consequences of a Triple Crown winner that has not been tested at all three distances.
- Jill Wing, Saratoga Springs
