1973 Belmont Stakes a sloppy track. However, Knightly Dawn was scratched prior to race day. The horse's scratch also reduced the winner's share from $150,200 to $90,120. There was much speculation going into the Stakes over Secretariat's bid for the Triple Crown. Since 1948, when Citation achieved the feat, there had been six horses that had won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes before failing in the Belmont Stakes. When comparing Secretariat to those six horses' health and fitness before the Belmont Stakes, writer Bonifice felt Secretariat was in the best shape, almost as good as when he entered the Kentucky
Victoria Stakes was raced on turf. Since inception, the Victoria Stakes has been competed over various distances: A number of notable North American horses have won this race including George Smith who won the next year's Kentucky Derby, Belair Stud's colt Faireno in 1931 who was the first horse to break the one-minute barrier and who went on to win the 1932 Belmont Stakes. Notable Canadian-bred winners include Windfields (1945), Nearctic, (1956), Viceregal (1968), and Deputy Minister who in 1981 set a new race record for five furlongs that still stands. In 1982, Sunny's Halo finished second but the following year became