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
Belmont Stakes 12, 1917 and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day. On eleven occasions, the Belmont Stakes was run before the Preakness Stakes. The date of each event is now set by the Kentucky Derby, which is always held on the first Saturday in May. The Preakness Stakes is currently held two weeks later; and the Belmont Stakes is held three weeks after the Preakness (five weeks after the Derby). The earliest possible date for the Derby is May 1, and the latest is May 7; the earliest possible date for the