With another year coming to an end, BloodHorse staff members voted on the best races of 2024.
Rated No. 4 is the Belmont Stakes (G1), June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.
How it played out
The 156th edition of the Belmont Stakes was an unforgettable, first-of-its-kind experience.
With Belmont Park being rebuilt, the Belmont Stakes was contested at Saratoga Race Course for the first time and it was a huge success. The electricity of a capacity crowd, bevy of grade 1 stakes, and Triple Crown race could be felt throughout the day, highlighted by the main event, the Belmont.
Though the Belmont was run at a shorter distance at Saratoga, it was long on drama. It featured the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winners in Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey , respectively, as well as Sierra Leone, who was second by a nose in the Kentucky Derby.
Yet the historic renewal of the final jewel of the Triple Crown for 3-year-olds did not belong to them.
Seize the Grey set the pace in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont, with Dornoch in closest pursuit. Dornoch trained by Danny Gargan, drew the rail in the Run for the Roses and was shut off in the early stages while finishing 10th. He skipped the Preakness. But he would race prominently in the Belmont.
Leaving the quarter pole, Seize the Grey dropped back and Dornoch and jockey Luis Saez took the lead turning for home. Quickly, he was joined by Mindframe, who was making his stakes debut after impressive maiden and allowance wins in his only two starts. As the two battled down the stretch, Mindframe drifted out but still managed to poke a head in front at the eighth pole.
But from there the classic pedigree of Dornoch, a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage by Good Magic , came to the fore as he held off Mindframe to win by a half-length with Sierra Leone another length back in third.
Owned by West Paces Racing, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Pine Racing Stables, and Two Eight Racing of former major league baseball player Jayson Werth and bred by Grandview Equine, Dornoch earned a permanent spot in racing history on the day when Saratoga and the Triple Crown became a coupled entry.
Quotable
Randy Hill, co-owner of Dornoch: "Saratoga is my favorite place. You dream about winning the Belmont Stakes but you know it will never happen. I've had a lot of thrills in racing but to win the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga was No. 1. I don't know how you describe what I felt. I don't think I'll ever have a better feeling. It was a great moment for Saratoga and a great race. When he turned for home I didn't think anyone would get him and they didn't."
Impact
Dornoch won the Haskell Stakes (G1) in his next start and went into the huge division showdown in the Travers Stakes (G1) in a position to clinch an Eclipse Award as the champion 3-year-old male. But he finished fourth in his final career start and most likely will finish third in the voting behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness, who were first and second in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
Notable
It was the first Belmont Stakes held somewhere other than Belmont Park since the 1967 renewal was staged at Aqueduct Racetrack ... The last time the Belmont Stakes was contested at 1 1/4 miles was 1905 ... The 2025 Belmont Stakes will also be held at Saratoga. The New York Racing Association expects to stage the 2026 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, but it could return to Saratoga for a third time if the facility is not operational at that time.
The Top 10 countdown started Dec. 20 with No. 10, the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), followed by No. 9, the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), No. 8, the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), the Preakness Stakes (G1) and the Kentucky Oaks (G1). tied at No. 6, and No. 5, the Jaipur Stakes (G1T).
