Belmont Stakes year when the Triple Crown series was split three ways. The Belmont Stakes race was held at Aqueduct Racetrack from 1963 to 1967, while the track at Belmont was restored and renovated. The largest crowd of the 20th century was in 1971 with over 80,000 people, supplemented by the city's Latino community, there to cheer on their new hero, Cañonero II, the Venezuelan colt who had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was poised to win the U.S. Triple Crown. However, due to a foot infection that had bothered the horse for several days, Cañonero II failed to
2004 Belmont Stakes finishing second in both the Derby and Preakness. His owners had been disappointed in his Preakness performance though, feeling the horse would have done better if he had been closer to the pace. His jockey at the time, Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, disagreed and declined to ride the horse in the Belmont. "I wasn't about to... ride him in the Belmont if it meant following orders I couldn't live with", he said. Alex Solis picked up the mount. Purge was the third choice in the field after winning the Peter Pan Stakes, while Eddington was the next choice after