Prove Out to the eventual 1973 Horse of the Year. Prove Out also defeated Secretariat's stablemate, the 1972 Kentucky Derby winner and 1973 U.S. Champion Older Horse Riva Ridge, in the 1973 Jockey Club Gold Cup. In addition to his two memorable victories in 1973, Prove Out also ran track record times at Saratoga for 7 furlongs (1:21), and at Belmont Park for 1 miles (1:40). His Woodward Stakes time of 2:25 for 1 miles on an off track is the second fastest performance ever recorded for that distance at Belmont Park, behind only Secretariat's 2:24 record Belmont Stakes win. Prove Out's
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 Classic Empire would have been the favorite of the remaining contenders for the race, but was withdrawn on June 7 because of a recurrent foot abscess.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