The Belmont at Aqueduct
Joseph Di Rienzi
The Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest of the Triple
Crown races, has naturally been associated with Belmont Park. Begun in 1867 at
Jerome Park Racetrack in The Bronx, New York and then moved nearby to Morris
Park Racecourse in 1895, the race found its permanent home in Elmont, New York
(on Long Island) when Belmont Park opened in 1905. Currently there is
discussion of a future renovation of “The Grand Old Lady”, as Belmont is
lovingly called, to make it a 21st century facility. There was a
previous rebuilding of the Belmont Park grandstand and clubhouse, and from
1963-1967 the Belmont Stakes was contested at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New
York. During those years, there were interesting
renewals with famous horses competing and a couple of Triple Crowns in the
balance.
The 1963 Belmont Stakes featured the “rubber” match between
the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners. Darby Dan Farm’s Chateaugay had upset
the field when he came from off the pace to win the Kentucky Derby. Previously
undefeated Candy Spots finished third, beaten about 1½ lengths. Candy Spots had
a glowing reputation that was somewhat tarnished by his Derby defeat. In the
Preakness Stakes, Candy Spots, re-established his credentials with an
authoritative 3½ length victory, easily repelling Chateaugay’s stretch rally.
In the interval between the Preakness and the Belmont
Stakes, Candy Spots was not idle. He won the Jersey Derby at
Garden State Park handily. All that was needed was a Belmont Stakes trophy to
cement his claim as one of racing’s top horses. The Belmont Stakes found
Chateaugay the only serious challenger to Candy Spots. In
the race, which was run around three turns
and was started on the far turn (3/8 of mile before the finish), Candy Spots
took the lead down the backstretch, set slow fractions, and bounded into the
stretch with a clear lead. Braulio Baeza, aboard Chateaugay, saved ground around the
turns and mounted his challenge coming up the inside of Candy Spots. What was
surprising was not that Chateaugay was able to prevail, but the ease in which
he ran past Candy Spots in the stretch winning by 2½ lengths. Either the 1½
mile distance of the Belmont or Chateaugay’s overall superiority led to Candy
Spots’ defeat and a diminution of his reputation.
With this second classic win over,
his three year-old rival, Chateaugay assumed the leadership of the division; a position he would not relinquish the rest of
the year. For Darby Dan owner John Galbreath, who had great success in other
sports endeavors, this Derby – Belmont double was at the time his crowning
achievement in thoroughbred racing. He would repeat a Derby victory in 1967
with Proud Clarion (see below), win another Belmont with Little Current in
1974, and breed and own an English Derby winner in Roberto. Galbreath’s trainer
at the time, James P. Conway, would have his only classic success with
Chateaugay. Braulio Baeza had won the Belmont Stakes in 1961 aboard Sherluck,
and he would ride Arts and Letters to victory in 1969.
 |
| Chateaugay winning the 1963 Belmont Stakes (Newsday) |
The 1964 Belmont Stakes held the prospect of an impending
Triple Crown winner. Canadian bred Northern Dancer had, to many observers,
outrun his pedigree with a track record performance in the Kentucky Derby and
then strode to a convincing victory in the Preakness. The chunky son of
Nearctic, who would become an epochal stallion, still had his doubters as
whether he would be able to negotiate the Belmont Stakes distance, but the
betting public made him the strong favorite to complete the elusive triple.
Northern Dancer faced familiar classic rivals, in Hill Rise, Quadrangle and Roman Brother. The Belmont Stakes is usually
run at a much slower pace than the two other Triple Crown races. As a result,
this works against horses that have great acceleration and favors those that
can keep up an even tempo throughout the 1½ mile marathon. This year’s running
was no exception as longshot Orientalist set a lugubrious pace with Quadrangle,
with blinkers off to relax him and ridden by Manuel Ycaza, raced just off the pace. Hill
Rise was third in the early going with Northern Dancer fourth. Quadrangle
forged along the inside to the lead with a ½ mile remaining, and when Northern
Dancer and Roman Brother challenged him in the stretch,
he fought them off and was slowly pulling away at the finish 2 lengths ahead of
Roman Brother. Northern Dancer, not persevered with once the issue was settled,
just held off Hill Rise for third place beaten a total of 6 lengths. So Triple
Crown hopes were dashed. Paul Mellon owner of Rokeby Farm had his first classic
winner in Quadrangle (it would not be his last as he also owned Arts and Letters,
as well as Sea Hero, the Derby hero in 1983). Just like John Galbreath, Mellon
also bred and owned an English Derby winner in Mill Reef. This Belmont win was
trainer Elliot Burch’s second having won with
Sword Dancer in 1959. (He was also be the conditioner of Arts and Letters).
 |
| Quadrangle winning the 1964 Belmont Stakes (bloodhorse.com) |
The following year’s Belmont appeared to be a more wide open
race. It did not have Kentucky Derby winner Lucky Debonair who aggravated a bruised ankle in the
Preakness and would not race again in 1965. The Belmont did feature the first
three respective finishers in the Preakness Stakes - Tom Rolfe, Dapper Dan, and Hail to All. Tom Rolfe
had finished third in the Derby before narrowly prevailing in the Preakness,
while Hail to All, after a fifth place finish in the Kentucky Derby and a third
in the Preakness, won the Jersey Derby just prior to the Belmont. Dapper Dan,
who had finished a close second in both the Derby and the Preakness had an
entry mate, Bold Bidder, to serve as a pacemaker to
set up his late charge. The betting public agreed with this “rabbit” strategy
and made the entry the favorite on the basis of Dapper Dan’s previously two
narrow classic misses.
As expected, Bold Bidder set the pace with longshot First Family in closest pursuit and the presumed contenders, Tom Rolfe, Hail to All and Dapper Dan further back. At the half mile to the finish
pole, Bold Bidder, abruptly tired and would finish eighth and last. First
Family found himself on the lead and was going well within himself when Tom
Rolfe and Hail to All made their respective challenges. In the stretch, this trio was joined by Dapper Dan making his
characteristic late charge. But the Belmont Stakes is not kind to one run
closers. Dapper Dan, found his rally stalled just as soon as he reached the
embattled trio. In deep stretch, Hail to All and Tom Rolfe slowly separated
themselves from the valiant First Family, and, in a tight finish after 1½ miles,
the larger colt (Hail to All) prevailed by a neck over the smaller rival (Tom
Rolfe). First Family was a length back in third with Dapper Dan ¾ of a length
behind him. For Mr. and Mrs. Ben Cohen and trainer Eddie Yowell, it was their first classic success. (Yowell
would train the 1971 Belmont victor, Pass
Catcher.) For jockey John Sellers, it was perhaps conciliation for the Belmont he
thought he would win in 1961 aboard Triple Crown aspirant, Carry Back.
 |
| Hail to All after the 1965 Belmont Stakes (The Blood-Horse) |
The 1966 edition of the Belmont had in its field another
horse trying to complete the Triple Crown. Kauai King, a son of the illustrious
Native Dancer, had won the previous two
classics. He was aided immensely when the two best three year-olds of this
generation – Buckpasser and Graustark were forced to miss all of the classic
races due to injuries.
On Belmont Stakes Day (still run at Aqueduct), a long shadow was cast before the big race. Last
year’s two year-old champion, Buckpasser, returned in an allowance race earlier on the
card and won impressively in the fastest 6 furlong time of the spring New York
racing season. In the Belmont, there was an
uncharacteristically large field (eleven) which could be taken as a sign of no
confidence for Kauai King’s Triple Crown bid. Classic rivals
such as Stupendous, Advocator, Amberoid were entered, but also entered was Buffle who seemed to be improving at the right time.
At the start, longshot Highest Honors sprinted to the lead
with Donald Brumfield aboard Kauai King attempting to restrain him 4
lengths back in second place. Highest Honors stopped abruptly with a ½ mile to
go, and Kauai King found himself on the lead closely pursued by Stupendous.
Amberoid, who had previously finished 4 times behind Kauai King, started at the
back of the field early but gradually moved to a contending position around the
far turn. He reached Kauai King at the top of the Aqueduct stretch and drew
away clearly during the drive. Buffle running a strong race finished 2½ lengths
back in second with Advocator 5 lengths in arrears just beating a tired Kauai
King for third. In retrospect, it can be surmised that the Derby-Preakness winner
was not a true 1½ mile horse. This was the first classic winner for owner
Reginald Webster and trainer Lucien Laurin (it would not be Laurin’s last as Riva Ridge
accomplished the Derby-Belmont double in 1972, and the immortal Secretariat won
the Triple Crown in 1973). Veteran jockey William Boland had his second Belmont. (He had won both the
Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Middleground in 1950.) With the Triple
Crown races over, it can be succinctly said that the rest of the year belonged
to Buckpasser.
 |
| Amberoid after the 1966 Belmont Stakes (The Blood-Horse) |
Similar to the 1963 Belmont Stakes, the 1967 edition was
billed as the deciding classic between Proud Clarion and Damascus, victors, respectively, of
the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. In reality, the Belmont was thought to be
the validation of Damascus’ championship credentials. The bay son of Sword
Dancer trained by “The Fox of Laurel” Frank Whiteley Jr., was the strong favorite for the Derby, but he was
somewhat unsettled by the large Churchill Downs crowd and could only finish
third. With the use of a pacemaker, Damascus made amends with a powerful rally
to win the Preakness Stakes with Proud Clarion finishing well back in third
place.
Another entry in the Belmont field was the previous year’s
Canadian two year-old champion Cool Reception who took the lead early and set steady
fractions. Damascus, under regular rider William Shoemaker, not as far back as
he was in the Preakness, gradually made progress to be a contender at the top
of the stretch. Unlike the Preakness, Proud Clarion, made the first move to
challenge the leader, but Cool Reception resolutely turned the Derby winner
back. However, his was unable to withstand Damascus’ surge who powered past him
to win by 2½ lengths. Cool Reception fractured his right front cannon bone
during the stretch and sadly had to be euthanized the next day when he re-broke
the bone in his stall. Gentleman James finished ½ length behind the gallant
Cool Reception, and Proud Clarion was a length back in fourth. Damascus’ owner,
Edith W. Bancroft, was the daughter of William
Woodward Sr. whose Nashua won the Belmont in 1955. William Shoemaker, in
Damascus, was riding his fourth Belmont Stakes winner. (He would win the race
again in 1975 with Avatar.)
 |
| Damascus winning the 1967 Belmont Stakes (racingpost.com) |
With his two classics victories, Damascus, could lay claim
to the pro-tem leadership of the three year-old male division. He would settle
that issue and win Horse of the Year honors with a spectacular win in the fall
in the Woodward Stakes against arch rival Dr. Fager and the mighty Buckpasser.
In June 1968, the refurbished Belmont Park, in its elegant
leafy park-like setting, had reopened and staged a glorious 100th
renewal of the Belmont Stakes (it had been not run 1911 and 1912). If this latest
project at re-building Belmont Park comes to fruition, it would be curious to
see how successful the third jewel of the Triple Crown will be staged at the
more utilitarian designed Aqueduct and how long it will be until it is returned
to his rightful venue.
