Belmont Stakes Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a horse race, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, and The Run for the Carnations, is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown and is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds
Dunkirk (American horse) also at Gulfstream Park. He then placed second in the Florida Derby, a race in which victorious Quality Road set a new track record. In the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Dunkirk finished 11th after stumbling badly at the beginning. This was the first time he had failed to finish in the top two. He then skipped the mid-May Preakness Stakes and aimed for the Belmont Stakes in early June at Belmont Park. After setting a fast pace for the first 6 furlongs, Dunkirk was overtaken in the stretch but fought back to finish 2nd behind eventual 3-year old champion Summer Bird,