Horse Racing Terms to Know for the Belmont Stakes

The Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes are in the books. Belmont Stake is on June 5 at Belmonte Park.

Thirteen horses have won the Triple Crown. Chalk is a heavy favorite for a race. Blaze is the large, white vertical marking on a horse's face.

On Belmont Stakes day there are nine graded stakes scheduled. The gradedstakes are the highest-level races in horse racing.

Belmont Park is known as Big Sandy because of its size.

Horse racing terms to know for the Belmont Stakes: Sophomores: Three-year-old horses. NYRA: The corporation that operates New York’s three major racetracks — Aqueduct, Saratoga Race Course, and Bel Mont Park.

Wire to Wire refers to when a horse wins a race by being on the lead from start to finish. American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes to capture the Triple Crown in 2015.

Belmont Jewel is the official drink of the Belmont Stakes. The Long Island Rail Road is most commonly used means of transportation to get to Belmonst Park in Elmont, NY.

The Grand Slam bet is unique to New York tracks. The person making the wager has to pick a horse who finishes in the first three positions in three consecutive races and then select the winner of the fourth race in that sequence.

The Belmont Stakes is a quarter of a mile longer than the Kentucky Derby. The distance is equivalent to 1.5 miles. It is also the longest race for most runners.

Handicapping is the study of factors in the past performances of racehorses.

Horse racing terms to know for the Belmont Stakes. Speed Figure is a metric that rates a horse’s performance in a race.