The third and final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, provides a unique challenge to both the horses and jockeys competing.
Coming in at 1.5 miles, the ' Run for the Carnations' has become synonymous with endurance. It isn't enough to just be fast—a jockey must strategize and know exactly when and how to push his horse, because plenty of lightning-quick thoroughbreds have lost their steam heading into the final turn.
However, throughout the history of the 'Test of the Champion,' some horses have truly risen to the occassion and provided a jaw-dropping experience.
Today, we're turning back the clock and taking a look at the fastest Belmont Stakes times in history.
What Is the Belmont Stakes?
The Belmont Stakes is a Grade 1 stakes race for 3-year-old thoroughbred race horses. It is held in Belmont Park in Elmont, New York and usually takes place on the first or second Saturday in June.
However, due to construction, the Belmont Stakes will be held at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, this year.
That means the race's customary 1.5 mile length will be shortened to 1.25 miles. This obviously changes the strategy going into the race.
As previously mentioned, the race is the final of the Triple Crown (to go along with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness). If one horse wins all three of these races in the same year, then they are a Triple Crown winner. This is an extremely rare and prestigious occurrence, and there is no possibility for the feat to happen this year.
That's because Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and Journalism won the Preakness. At best, either horse could win two-out-of-three.
The race itself actually pre-dates both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but it didn't find its permanent home in Belmont Park until 1905.
The Fastest Belmont Stakes Times in History
Point Given – 2:26.56 (2001)
There was plenty of hype around Point Given in 2001. The horse, which was trained by Bob Baffert and jockeyed by Gary Stevens, was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby that year.
Unfortunately, Point Given fell far short of that, finishing fifth. However, the horse bounced back with a Preakness victory and then had an exceptional race at the Belmont Stakes.
Point Given won by a whopping 12 lengths and clocked the fifth-fastest Belmont Stakes time in history. The colt made history becoming the first horse to win four-straight $1-million races (Preakness, Belmont, Haskell Invitational and Travers Stakes) and winning the Horse of the Year award.
Risen Star – 2:26.50 (1988)
The son of the near mythological-Secretariat, Risen Star looked a lot like his daddy on this day in 1988.
Risen Star won the Belmont Stakes by 14.5 lengths after falling short in the Kentucky Derby. Much like Secretariat before him, Risen Star was headed for the record books as it recorded the then-second fastest time in history.
Unfortunately, Risen Star suffered a career-ending injury shortly thereafter and retired from racing.
A.P. Indy – 2:26.13 (1992)
A.P. Indy is part of a remarkable lineage. He is the son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (and grandson of Secretariat). A.P. Indy then went on to sire 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches.
But in 1992, A.P. Indy ran just like the Japanese racing league he was named for: Fast. With one of the most-impressive performances in the history of the Belmont Stakes behind him, A.P. Indy was named the 1992 Horse of the Year.
Easy Goer – 2:26.00 (1989)
Easy Goer is best known for his rivalry with Sunday Silence, who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
But Easy Goer would get the last laugh, winning the Belmont Stakes in dominant fashion. After biding his time for the first three-quarters of the race, Easy Goer exploded down the stretch with long, powerful strides. In the end, he won by eight lengths.
Secretariat – 2:24.00 (1973)
One cannot talk about the Belmont Stakes without bringing up Secretariat. The greatest horses in the history of horse racing, Secretariat was the ninth Triple Crown winner in history. His 1973 season is one of the most impressive in the history of the sport.
Secretariat not only won each of the Triple Crown races, but set the record time in each of them.
It's tough to say which race was his best, but his performance at the Belmont Stakes is mind-boggling. He won by 31 lengths, a distance so absurd that the broadcast needed to shift to a seldom-used ultra-wide shot to show the race's conclusion.
Secretariat's splits got faster each quarter-mile he ran, which makes precisely zero sense. But it was a testament to the horse's incredible power, speed, skill and determination.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fastest Belmont Stakes Times in History.