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
1910 Belmont Stakes 7 and the 1910 Kentucky Derby three days later on May 10. The Belmont was run twenty days after the Derby. The 1919 Belmont Stakes would mark the first time the race would be recognized as the third leg of a U.S. Triple Crown series. As a result of New York State's Hart-Agnew anti-betting legislation, which contained penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison, racing ended in 1910. For the next two years racetracks in New York were closed. The Belmont Stakes would not be run again until 1913. 1910 Belmont Stakes The 1910 Belmont Stakes