Belmont Spinoff -- Belmont Park

[Rackonteur]

There was only one hour of programming from Belmont on NBCSN Friday.

There never seem to be any people partying in the infield at Belmont on Saturday.

I’m just curious – not as many races on Friday at Belmont as at Churchill Downs and Pimlico? No fillies’ equivalent of the Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan?

Just track policy to not allow people in the infield?

I am really enjoying the Belmont coverage today (Saturday) compared to the coverage of the Derby and the Preakness, and I’m just curious as to why Belmont does it differently.

Anybody know?

[dressagetraks]

Can’t speak to the official reasons on the infield, but they just ran the Acorn a while ago, which is their fillies’ race.

I’ve always enjoyed looking at that big expansive empty infield at Belmont on TV. I’d rather see acres of grass than a crazy party like at Pimlico.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@Rackonteur

No fillies’ equivalent of the Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan?

I believe the Belmont “equivalent” to the Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan was the Acorn today (but could be wrong; wouldn’t be the first time )

[LaurieB]

@Where'sMyWhite

I believe the Belmont “equivalent” to the Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan was the Acorn today (but could be wrong; wouldn’t be the first time )

I thought it was the Coaching Club Oaks. But now that I say that, I have no idea where that race went (it certainly didn’t run today.)

[Palm_Beach]

@LaurieB

I thought it was the Coaching Club Oaks. But now that I say that, I have no idea where that race went (it certainly didn’t run today.)

Saratoga.

[Maythehorsebewithme]

Personally I prefer the beautiful empty infield to the rowdy party at Pimlico.

The undercard was terrific–the Met mile, the Acorn (yikes, Guarana!), the Ogden Phipps, etc. Eight GI or GIT stakes, counting the Belmont.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@LaurieB

I thought it was the Coaching Club Oaks. But now that I say that, I have no idea where that race went (it certainly didn’t run today.)

According to our pal Wikipedia, the Filly Triple Crown is now known as the Triple Tiara and all 3 are run in New York. The Acorn Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama Stakes.

The original (1957-2002 and 2007-2009) Triple Tiara was the Acorn, Mother Goose and Coaching Club.

Then 2003-2006 was the Mother Goose, Coaching Club and Alabama.

The current Triple Tiara (2010-present) was as above.

8 fillies won 1968-1993 but no filly has won the Tiara since then.

[Texarkana]

Belmont is so large they don’t need to open up the infield. Not only is the grandstand massive, but they also have the whole backyard area for the party crowd.

[findeight]

Belmont is more of an oasis on the edge of a vast urban sprawl, whole area is gorgeous and on the more upscale side. They don’t need to cram 20k or so drunks into the infield to attract non horsey local twenty somethings to party and generate more income with so many nearby options. Like the beaches and Coney Island.

[ravenclaw]

I love seeing the beautiful infield with the grass and ponds (and no drunks :)). I have never been to Belmont but on TV the grandstand looks huge and really nice. Isn’t Ruffian buried on the infield?

[dressagetraks]

I’ve only been to Churchill and Oaklawn live, but of all the tracks I’ve seen on TV, I think Belmont appeals to me the most. And probably because of that massive, gorgeous infield.

Ruffian is buried at the flagpole in the infield.

[Laurierace]

There are as many drunken idiots at Belmont, they just aren’t in the infield, they are in the backyard so you wouldn’t be able to see them while watching on tv. I have been there when there were 140,000 people there. Thankfully they stopped doing that a couple of years ago and limit it to 90 something now.

[nelson]

Our trainer keeps a string at Belmont year round, so I’ve had occasion to go up there a few times over the last year. The track at Belmont is really nice, and as others have said above, the surrounding area is nice too. My favorite hotel up there is the Garden City Hotel - I definitely recommend it to anyone planning to go up. Of course, over the winter, our horses who were stabled at Belmont were running at Aqueduct while Belmont was dark. Aqueduct is fine, but not as nice as Belmont. And, although they are only about 10 miles apart, sometimes the van ride is better than an hour and a half for the horses to ship in and out of Aqueduct from Belmont because of all the NY traffic. There is a great restaurant near Aqueduct though - Don Peppe - amazing Italian food.

In addition to the Triple Tiara mentioned above, NYRA is also offering a Turf Triple Crown series starting this year. The Turf Trinity and Turf Tiara will both kick off at Belmont on Star and Stripes Day in early July, then move to Saratoga for the second leg, then back to Belmont to finish out on September 7. A very cool thing for those of us who love turf racing! Here is an article about it for anyone who’s interested:

http://live.drf.com/nuggets/47016-nyra-establishes-a-turf-triple-crown-for-males-and-females