May 4, 1905: Belmont Park Opens

May 4, 1905: Belmont Park opens, just outside New York City, in Elmont, Long Island. It becomes the leading horse racing track in the Northeastern United States. Like its neighbor in Queens, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course, Upstate, it is owned by the State of New York, and operated through the New York Racing Association.

Since its opening, usually on the 1st Saturday in June, it has hosted the Belmont Stakes, the 3rd and last leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. Due to its distance of a mile and a half, it is known as "the true test of champions."

Originally funded by financier and horse-breeder August Belmont Sr., the Belmont Stakes (or simply, "The Belmont") was first held in 1867, at Jerome Park Racetrack in The Bronx (also financed by Belmont, and demolished in 1894 to make way for a City reservoir). The 1st race was won by a filly, Ruthless. In 1890, the Stakes was moved to another Bronx track, Morris Park Racecourse (which burned down in 1910). In 1905, it was moved to the original version of Belmont Park.

In 1963, the original grandstand was found to be structurally unsound. It was demolished, and the current grandstand was built on the site. The Belmont Stakes was moved to Aqueduct for 1963, '64, '65, '66 and '67. The new 33,000-seat grandstand opened on May 20, 1968. With infield seating, capacity can be raised to well over 100,000.

The Triple Crown has been won at Belmont by Sir Barton in 1919, Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral in 1937, Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946, Citation in 1948, Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, Affirmed in 1978, American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

In winning the Belmont Stakes in 1973, Secretariat set a race record that still stands, winning by a staggering 31 lengths. A few horses have won the Kentucky Derby in Louisville and the Preakness States in Baltimore, but failed at the Belmont Stakes, including Smarty Jones in 2004, upset by Birdstone in front of the biggest crowd in Belmont Park history, 120,139 fans.

Two match races held at Belmont should be mentioned. In 1923, it hosted a race between the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Zev, and the winner of England's premier thoroughbred race, the Epsom Derby, Papyrus. In a big victory for American racing, Zev won by 5 lengths.

In 1975, Ruffian, channeling the memory of Ruthless, won the fillies' version of the Triple Crown, and her owners challenged those of Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. The race was neck-and-neck about halfway through, when Ruffian was injured, and had to be euthanized. While Secretariat has a statue outside the grandstand, Ruffian was buried near the finish line, with her nose pointed toward the finish pole.

Among the other stakes races held at Belmont Park are the Metropolitan Handicap (a.k.a. the Met Cap or the Met Mile), the Woodward Stakes, and the Champagne Stakes.

UPDATE: Belmont Park was closed for the "fall meet" of 2022, with its races moved to Aqueduct. In 2024, the 1968 grandstand was demolished. A new grandstand is being built, hoping to open by September 2026. If this deadline is met, the 1st meet at the 3rd Belmont Park will be the Breeders' Cup. Whenever the construction is completed, it will mean the closing of Aqueduct, which opened in 1894.

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May 4, 1905 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders (forerunners of the Yankees) lost to the Boston Americans (forerunners of the Red Sox), 9-4 at Hilltop Park in Manhattan. Cy Young was the winning pitcher -- with 5 innings of relief.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 6-1 at the South End Grounds in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Naps beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-0 at League Park in Cleveland. The Naps were named for their manager, 2nd baseman and best player, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, who hit a home run in this game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-2 at Bennett Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago.

* The Brooklyn Superbas (forerunner of the Dodgers) and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Washington Park in Brooklyn. The game was rescheduled for May 7, and the Superbas won, 4-2.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.