Belmont Stakes Record List

Traditionally, the third and final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, is one of the most important fixtures in the horse racing year. The first Belmont Stakes happened all the way back in 1867, making it the oldest Triple Crown race. With a story that winds through Jerome Park, Park Racecourse, Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course, the story of the Belmont Stakes is the story of horse racing in New York.

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Fastest Belmont Stakes Winners

The traditional answer to the fastest winning horse in the Belmont Stakes is, of course, Secretariat. He won the 1973 Belmont Stakes in 2:24.0, setting the speed record for the Belmont. The time is still a world record for 1 ½ miles on dirt.

However, the Belmont has not always been run at 1 ½ miles. The race has been run at distances as short as 1 ⅛ miles and as long as 1 ⅝ miles. These are the Belmont Stakes record times for each distance at which the race has been run.

Delhi previously held the record for the fastest 1 ¼-mile Belmont Stakes, running the distance in 2:06.6 in the 1904 Belmont Stakes, held at Morris Park Racecourse. However, horses typically go 1 ¼ miles much faster than that nowadays. In 2024, with the race at the 1 ¼-mile distance at Saratoga, Dornoch shattered that mark, and then Sovereignty pushed it even lower in 2025.

Most Wins by Connections in the Belmont Stakes

These are the trainers, jockeys, and owners who have won the most times in Belmont history.

Most Wins by a Trainer

James Rowe leads all trainers with eight Belmont winners: George Kinney (1883), Panique (1884), Commando (1901), Delhi (1904), Peter Pan (1907), the great Colin (1908), Sweep (1910), and Prince Eugene (1913).

Impressively, before winning those record eight Belmonts as a trainer, he won a pair as a jockey with Joe Daniels (1872) and Springbok (1873). Rowe is one of two people to win the Belmont as both a trainer and a jockey: George Martin Odom rode Delhi (1904) and trained Pasteurized (1938).

Among active trainers, Todd Pletcher and D. Wayne Lukas are tied with four wins each. Pletcher won with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013), Tapwrit (2017), and Mo Donegal (2022). Lukas has won with Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995), Editor’s Note (1996), and Commendable (2000).

Pletcher is expected to have a live chance to take the record for himself in 2026 with Renegade, the runner-up in the 2026 Kentucky Derby.

Most Wins by a Jockey

Two jockeys are tied for the most Belmont victories with six wins each. James McLaughlin dominated early Belmont Stakes history with Forester (1882), George Kinney (1883), Panique (1884), Inspector B. (1886), Hanover (1887), and Sir Dixon (1888). Eddie Arcaro shined in the mid-20th century with Triple Crown winner Whirlaway (1941), Shut Out (1942), Pavot (1945), Triple Crown winner Citation (1948), One Count (1952), and Nashua (1955).

Among active riders, Mike Smith leads with three victories in the race. He won the Belmont Stakes with Drosselmeyer (2010), Palace Malice (2013), and Triple Crown winner Justify (2018).

Most Wins by an Owner

Two owners, neither of whom are still active, are tied for the most victories in the Belmont Stakes. James R. Keene won with Spendthrift (1879), Commando (1901), Delhi (1904), Peter Pan (1907), Colin (1908), and Sweep (1910). Belair Stud has also won six editions of the Belmont. They owned Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox (1930), Faireno (1932), Triple Crown winner Omaha (1935), Granville (1936), Johnstown (1939), and Nashua (1955).

Mike and Phil Dwyer owned the next most Belmont Stakes winners, with five. Impressively, they won their five editions of the Belmont in a span of six editions of the race. Their winners included George Kinney (1883), Panique (1884), Inspector B. (1886), Hanover (1887), and Sir Dixon (1888).

Female Jockeys and Trainers in the Belmont Stakes

As of 2025, only one woman has won the Belmont as a jockey, and one woman has won the Belmont Stakes as a trainer.

In 1993, Julie Krone became the first woman to ride a Belmont Stakes winner when she guided Colonial Affair to a 2 ¼-length victory over Kissin Kris. It was her best finish in five rides in the Belmont Stakes, though she also finished second in 1995 with Star Standard. One other woman has ridden in the Belmont Stakes: Rosie Napravnik, whose best finish in two tries was a sixth with Unlimited Budget in 2013.

Forty years after Julie Krone’s victory, in 2023, Jena Antonucci became the first woman to train a Belmont Stakes winner when Arcangelo prevailed over Forte by 1 ½ lengths. She was the 11th female trainer to start a horse in the Test of the Champion. Two other women have trained horses who hit the board in the Belmont: Dianne Carpenter trained 1988 second-place finisher Kingpost, and Linda Rice trained 2020 third-place finisher Max Player.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux is slated to become the 12th woman to start a horse in the Belmont Stakes, and perhaps the second to win the race, with Golden Tempo. She already made history on May 2, becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner and the second to train a winner of any race in the Triple Crown series.

Largest Belmont Stakes Winning Margins

Not only did 1973 Triple Crown champion Secretariat run the fastest Belmont Stakes at its traditional 1 ½-mile distance, but he also has the largest winning margin in the race’s history: he crossed the wire 31 lengths clear of second-place Twice a Prince. Belmont Park has a blue and white pole 31 lengths from the finish line, painted the blue and white of the Meadow Stable silks, to commemorate Secretariat’s feat.

Secretariat is one of nine horses who, between 1905 and 2025, have won the Belmont Stakes by ten or more lengths. These are the largest winning margins in Belmont Stakes history:

Shortest Belmont Stakes Winning Margins

Just as there have been some massive margins of victory in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes has also played host to Triple Crown bids that fell short by the slimmest of margins.

In the nearest miss, Real Quiet missed out on a Triple Crown in 1998 by just a nose behind Victory Gallop. On the other hand, Affirmed clinched his Triple Crown glory in 1978 by just a head over his classic rival Alydar, the same horse who had finished second behind him in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

Fortunately for these horses, the glory and the purse money don’t depend on how far you finish ahead of the second-place horse, just on hitting the wire first. These are the shortest Belmont Stakes winning margins in history:

Triple Crown Winners

Dating back to the first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton in 1919, thirteen horses have swept the series of American three-year-old classics: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Though the order of the races we know now as the American Triple Crown sometimes varied early in the history of the races, all 13 won the Belmont as the final leg of the series.

These are the 13 horses who have won the Triple Crown:

Only one jockey, Eddie Arcaro, has won the Triple Crown twice. Three trainers have accomplished that feat: “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons, Ben Jones, and Bob Baffert. There are also two owners who have won a pair of Triple Crowns: Belair Stud and Calumet Farm.

Payout Records

The longest shot to win the Belmont was Sarava in 2002. Sent off at 70-1, the second longest shot in the field of 11, he won by ½ length over Medaglia d’Oro and paid $142.50, the largest winning mutuel in Belmont Stakes history.

Unsurprisingly, the shortest-priced winner in Belmont Stakes history won a Triple Crown. Count Fleet, in the 1943 Belmont Stakes, paid just $2.10 when he completed the feat. The next shortest-priced Belmont winner was Secretariat, who paid $2.20 when he won the third jewel of the Triple Crown.

Fillies in the Belmont Stakes

Twenty-four fillies have contested the Belmont Stakes, and only three fillies have ever won the test of the Champion.

The first-ever Belmont Stakes at Jerome Park was won by the great Ruthless. The first-ever Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park was also won by a filly: Tanya won the race in 1905. It took over 100 years for another filly to win the Belmont Stakes: that happened in 2007, when Rags to Riches outslugged Curlin down the lane to achieve Belmont glory.

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