Washingtonpost.com: Box score

NEW YORK -- The Belmont is the oldest of the Triple Crown races, predating the Preakness by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight. The winner of the first Kentucky Derby, Aristedes, ran second to Calvin in the Belmont. The Belmont will be run for the 134th time on Saturday.

Margins, Small and Large: Three times, the Belmont was decided by a nose, the most recent being Victory Gallop's win over Real Quiet in 1998 — a win that spoiled Real Quiet's Triple Crown bid. ... The largest margin of victory was 31 lengths in Secretariat's Triple Crown-completing win. The next largest margin was also produced by a Triple Crown winner — Count Fleet, who won by 25 lengths in 1943.

Fields, Small and Large: There never has been a Belmont walkover, but five times there were two-horse fields, including Man o' War's win over Donnacona in 1920. ... The largest field was 15 in 1983, when Caveat defeated Slew o'Gold.

Payoffs, High and Low: Count Fleet's win in 1943 returned $2.10 on a $2 bet; Sherluck's 1961 win paid $132.10.

Form Holds: The Belmont favorite has won 59 of 133 runnings — a 44.4 winning percentage. Ten of the last 29 favorites have won (34.5 percent).

Crowded: The largest Belmont Stakes-day crowd was 85,818 in 1999, when Charismatic failed in his Triple Crown attempt. The largest crowd without a Triple Crown on the line came last year, when 73,857 showed up for Point Given's victory.

Rush to Victory: Secretariat won the '73 Belmont in 2:24 — a world record for 1½ miles on a dirt track.

Consecutive Winners: Should War Emblem win the Belmont and become racing's first Triple Crown winner in 24 years, it would mark the first time since 1972-73 that an owner has won consecutive Belmonts. War Emblem is owned by Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salman's The Thoroughbred Corp., which also owns '01 winner Point Given; Riva Ridge in '72 and Secretariat in '73 were owned by Meadow Stable.

Winning Jocks: Hall of Fame riders Pat Day and Gary Stevens are looking to win the Belmont Stakes for the fourth time. Day won with Commendable in 2000, Tabasco Cat in '94 and Easy Goer in '89. Stevens won aboard Point Given last year, Victory Gallop in '98 and Thunder Gulch in '95.


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