2015 Belmont Stakes Derby and the Preakness, American Pharoah won the Belmont and became the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. As the 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah ran the race in 2:26.65 which was the sixth-fastest of all time and the second-fastest (following only Secretariat in 1973) amongst Triple Crown winners. The New York Racing Association, which runs Belmont Park, located in Elmont, New York, announced that attendance for the event would be limited to 90,000. By Friday, June 5, all tickets had been sold out. To ease congestion at Belmont Station from racing fans leaving
Horse racing in the United States has its own Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Hall of Fame honors remarkable horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers. The traditional high point of US horse racing is the Kentucky Derby, held on the first Saturday of May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Together, the Derby; the Preakness Stakes, held two weeks later at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland; and the Belmont Stakes, held three weeks after the Preakness at Belmont Park on Long Island, form the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing for three-year-olds. They are all held early in the