1928 Preakness Stakes to Belmont Park where he would run in the Withers Stakes if his trainer thought the colt was healthy. Victorian won the Withers Stakes. The "Daily Racing Form" reported there was a record crowd in attendance on Preakness day which included notables such as Belgium's Prince Ernest and Princess Marguerite de Ligne, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., father of a future President of the United States, the British Ambassador Sir Esmé Howard, Bernard Baruch, George Saportas, and James Wood Colt, among others. Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie presented the Woodlawn Vase to James G. Rowe Jr., the winning trainer who accepted it
2017 Belmont Stakes of both Always Dreaming, the 2017 Kentucky Derby winner, and Cloud Computing, the winner of the 2017 Preakness Stakes, decided to bypass the Belmont. Classic Empire would have been the favorite of the remaining contenders for the race, but was withdrawn on June 7 because of a recurrent foot abscess. Classic Empire, the champion two-year-old colt of 2016, finished fourth in the Derby and second in the Preakness. Another leading contender was Epicharis, a Japanese-bred horse who qualified on the 2017 Road to the Kentucky Derby but who bypassed that race to focus on the Belmont. The New York Racing