The 2021 Belmont Stakes was the 153rd running of the
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
and the 110th time the event took place at
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
. The race, known as the "test of the champion", is the final leg in the American
Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Trip ...
, open to three-year-old
Thoroughbreds
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are co ...
. The race was won by
Essential Quality
Essential Quality (foaled April 9, 2018) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, and the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He was named the 2020 Champion Two-Year-Old and the 2021 Champion Th ...
.
The race took place on June 5, 2021, in
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the ...
, with an actual start time of 6:50 p.m.
EDT;
[ television coverage was by ]NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. It was a Grade I stakes race with a purse of $1.5 million. Entering the race, it was known that there would be no Triple Crown winner, as the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
and Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...
had already been won by different horses.
Background
Due to effects from the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the 2020 edition was contested as the ''first'' leg of the Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Trip ...
, on June 20 without spectators. The 2021 Triple Crown races returned to their traditional sequence and schedule, with Medina Spirit
Medina Spirit (April 5, 2018 – December 6, 2021) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. He came second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic and third in the 2021 Preakness ...
winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby
The 2021 Kentucky Derby (officially, the 2021 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby. It took place on May 1, 2021, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, who qualified for t ...
on May 1, and Rombauer winning the 2021 Preakness Stakes on May 15. A week after the Derby, it was announced that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone
Betamethasone is a steroid medication. It is used for a number of diseases including rheumatic disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, skin diseases such as dermatitis and psoriasis, allergic conditions such ...
, a corticosteroid, and stands to be disqualified if the split sample confirms the positive; with that result still pending, Medina Spirit submitted to additional testing and was allowed to run in the Preakness.
Attendance for the Belmont was set at a maximum of 11,000 spectators, with attendees required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination
A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19).
Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...
or a negative COVID-19 test
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral p ...
.
Field
Several horses that ran in the Derby and then bypassed the Preakness were possible entrants in the Belmont: Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie
Hot Rod Charlie (foaled April 11, 2018) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Pennsylvania Derby and Louisiana Derby. He also came second in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2021 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and four ...
, Essential Quality
Essential Quality (foaled April 9, 2018) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, and the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He was named the 2020 Champion Two-Year-Old and the 2021 Champion Th ...
, and O Besos.[
On May 17, the ]New York Racing Association
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest Thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park ...
(NYRA) banned trainer Bob Baffert
Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...
from entering any horses in races in the state of New York
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...
. The ban had not been lifted by June 5 and so prevented Medina Spirit
Medina Spirit (April 5, 2018 – December 6, 2021) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. He came second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic and third in the 2021 Preakness ...
or Concert Tour from running in the Belmont. The same day, Preakness winner Rombauer and seventh-place finisher France Go de Ina arrived at Belmont Park. On May 18, owners of Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...
winner Malathaat
Malathaat (foaled March 7, 2018) is a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse. She was named the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2021 after winning the Ashland Stakes, Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes. In 2022, she was named American C ...
stated that the filly would not be entered in the Belmont.
With a maximum field size of 16 horses, the post-position draw was held on June 1. Essential Quality, the fourth place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, was installed as the morning line favorite.
Results
Known Agenda was planned to be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., but the jockey suffered an injury two days before the race.
Track: Fast
Times: mile – 22.78; mile – 46.49; mile – 1:12.07; mile – 1:37.40; miles – 2:02.38; final – 2:27.11
Splits for each quarter-mile: (22.78) (23.71) (25.58) (25.33) (24.98) (24.73)
Source:
Payouts
* $1 Exacta
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the Vigorish, "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff Odds#Gambling odds versus probabilities, odds a ...
: (2–4) $7.50
* $1 Trifecta
file:Trifecta.svg, Trifecta
A trifecta is a parimutuel betting, parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Austra ...
: (2–4–3) $21.70
* $1 Superfecta {{Wiktionary
The superfecta is a type of wager in USA and Canada parimutuel betting in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a successful wager in th ...
: (2–4–3–6) $60.70
Source:[
]
References
External links
*
Belmont Stakes 2021 (full race)
from NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
via YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{Thoroughbred Racing on NBC
Belmont Stakes races
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...