1973 Belmont Stakes Steve Cady of the "New York Times" wrote that Secretariat could be defeated if the pace of the race went too fast or was too slow for too long, in both of which scenarios he felt Sham would win. Sham received significant attention as well and was thought to be the second best horse, along with having the potential of becoming the first horse to be runner-up in all the Triple Crown races. My Gallant was considered the best of the rest, especially as he was the progeny of Gallant Man, who set the Belmont Stakes course record of 2:
Belmont Derby won this race in 1952, finished first again but was disqualified. Belmont Derby The Belmont Derby is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred race horse run over a distance of miles on the turf at Belmont Park in July. The purse for the event is US$1,200,000. In 2014, the race became a feature portion of the Stars and Stripes Racing Festival at Belmont Park. The race was renamed from the Jamaica Handicap, moved from October to July, increased in distance from miles to miles, and had the purse increased from $500,000 to $1,250,000. The original race name