1973 Preakness Stakes "Now, we're going to try and win the Belmont." Torsion's jockey Ben Feliciano said, in regards to Secretariat, "He's the best." Betting on the races held that day at Pimlico Stakes totaled to $3,792,076, which set the Maryland record for amount of money wagered for the day. Off-track betting on the Preakness Stakes reached $922,989, which was included in the previous record total. Three weeks after the Preakness, the Belmont Stakes featured a five-horse field. Secretariat won by 31 lengths with a time of 2:24 for the mile and a half, both course records in their own right. Through his
2002 Belmont Stakes 2002 Belmont Stakes The 2002 Belmont Stakes was the 134th running of the Belmont Stakes. The race, known as the "test of the champion" and sometimes called the "final jewel" in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown series, was held on June 8, 2002, three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby. War Emblem, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, was the race favorite after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in front-running fashion. However, he lost all chance of completing the Triple Crown after stumbling at the start of the race.