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First running of the Belmont Stakes: final race in the Triple Crown...
First running of the Belmont Stakes: final race in the Triple Crown...
Item # 722678
June 20, 1867
SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN, Massachusetts, June 20, 1867
* First Belmont Stakes - Jerome Park Racetrack
Near the bottom of page 2 is a seemingly innocuous report but which has great significance in the sport of horse racing: the very first running of the Belmont Stakes.
Headed: "Sporting Intelligence" "Commodore Vanderbilt Defeats Gen. McClellan". The text reports on several races, and includes: "...The summer race meeting at Jerome Park commenced on Wednesday...The Belmont stakes were won by Ruthless in 3:05..." with more race reports.
The Belmont Stakes is the final race of the Triple Crown of horse racing.
Four pages, very nice condition.
background: The inaugural Belmont Stakes, held on June 19, 1867, at Jerome Park in the Bronx, established the foundation for what would become the "Test of the Champion." In a historic debut for the oldest Triple Crown race, the victory was claimed by Ruthless, a filly who outlasted three colts to win by a narrow margin of a short neck on a heavy track. Ridden by jockey Gilbert Patrick, she completed the original distance of 1 5/8 miles in a time of 3:05.00, securing a winner’s purse of $1,850 for owner Francis Morris. This first running was notable not only for its clockwise direction—a nod to English racing tradition—but also for the immediate prestige it brought to American turf racing, named in honor of the financier and Jockey Club president August Belmont Sr.
Category: Post-Civil War
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