<Tr> <Th> Weight </Th> <Td> Colt / Gelding: 126 pounds (57 kg); Filly: 121 pounds (55 kg) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Purse </Th> <Td> US $1.5 million 1st: $800,000 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York . It is a 1.5 - mile - long (2.4 km) horse race, open to three - year - old Thoroughbreds . Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, and The Run for the Carnations, is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown and is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes . The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the mile and a half stakes record (which is also a track and world record on dirt) of 2: 24 . </P> <P> The attendance at the Belmont Stakes is among the American thoroughbred racing top - attended events . The 2004 Belmont Stakes drew a television audience of 21.9 million viewers, and had the highest household viewing rate since 1977 when Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown . </P>

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