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2019 Belmont Stakes Trivia Questions and Answers


by - 5/24/2019

Rachel Alexandra is one of only three fillys to race in the Preakness Stakes in modern times.

The Belmont Stakes is the last leg of the Triple Crown, and in many ways it is the toughest. It only makes sense, then, that the trivia quiz for this leg of the Triple Crown is also the toughest. The quiz for the Derby this year was tough - tougher than the one for the Preakness. But this will be on a whole new level. There is one very easy question at the end - but you have to get there first. This set of Belmont trivia questions and answers will prove what you are made of.

1. There is not likely to be a female jockey in the race this year. In the entire history of the race, only one female jockey has ever come out of top - and she's the only woman to win any Triple Crown race. That came in 1993 when Colonial Affair won the race at 13/1 in a race marred by the fatal breakdown of Preakness winner and Derby runner-up Prairie Bayou. Who was the jockey?

a. Rosie Napravnik

b. Julie Krone

c. Chantal Sutherland

d. Katie Walsh

2. One post position has a huge lead in terms of winners produced - it has produced 24 winners, and the next closest is 13. Which gate is it? I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you a hint - Justify won from this spot last year.

a. 1

b. 3

c. 5

d. 7

3. The last time the Kentucky Derby winner did not run in another Triple Crown race was in 1996, when Grindstone was injured and retired less than a week after the Derby. The winner of the Belmont that year had previously finished sixth in the Derby and third in the Preakness. Who was it?

a. Louis Quatorze

b. Skip Away

c. Editor's Note

d. Lemon Drop Kid

4. Tacitus is set up to be the Belmont favorite at this point. There is a big thing working in his favor here - in the last 30 years more horses with a name starting with T have won the race than any other letter. How many?

a. 3

b. 4

c. 5

d. 6

5. The official flower of the Kentucky Derby is, famously, the rose. For the Preakness it is the Black-eyed Susan - though the flowers they use aren't actually Black-eyed Susans since they are not in season. What is the official flower of the Belmont?

a. Cherry blossom

b. Dogwood

c. Carnation

d. Daffodil

6. In 2007 Rags to Riches won the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Oaks on the eve of the Derby. How many other fillies (female horses) have won the Belmont since it began in 1867?

a. 3

b. 9

c. 14

d. 22

7. One trainer won the Belmont an incredible five times in a row in the 1980s. Who was it?

a. D. Wayne Lukas

b. Bob Baffert

c. Woody Stephens

d. Laz Barrera

8. How many men have won the Belmont both as a trainer and as a jockey?

a. 3

b. 2

c. 1

d. 0

9. Struggling with these questions so far? Don't worry - they are tough. Here's a softball to boost your confidence and finish things off on a high note. There have been 149 prior Belmont winners. What is the average number of legs those 149 winners have had?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

Answers

1 - b. Krone made other history, too - she was also the first woman to win a Breeders' Cup race when she took the 2003 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Krone won 3,704 career races, which is top 100 all-time, and best among women.

2 - a. In many races the inside post is a problem because a horse can be caught on the rail and have nowhere to run and no ability to get to the lead early. Here, though, the combination of a very spacious track, long stretches, and the long distance make the ground-saving path of the inside gate a clear advantage here.

3 - c. Editor's Note claimed by far the biggest race of his career that day, out-dueling Skip Away in a thrilling stretch duel. Skip Away got revenge, though, being named champion three-year-old that fall, and horse of the year in 1998. Louis Quatorze won the 1996 Preakness but was off the board in the Belmont. And Lemon Drop Kid did win the Belmont, but not until 1999.

4 - c. The five are Tabasco Cat, Thunder Gulch, Touch Gold, Tonalist and Tapwrit. The last two, like Tacitus, are sons of Tapit.

5 - c. It takes 700 carnations to make the winner's blanket, and they are imported by a florist in Philadelphia - a tradition that has been controversial. The official drink used to be the White Carnation, but it was changed in 1997 because that cocktail was deemed basically undrinkable.

6 - a. Rags to Riches broke an incredible drought that dated back to 1905 when Tanya won. The only other filly to win was Ruthless in the very first Belmont in 1867. Only 23 fillies have ever started in the race, though, so their winning percentage is actually pretty respectable. The last filly to run in the race was Unlimited Budget in 2013. We are not likely to have one this year.

7 - c. Stephens won the race from 1982 to 1986, and never won it again. The legendary trainer was 72 when he won the final time. Stephens won the Derby in 1974 and 1984 and won his only Preakness way back in 1952. Lukas, who has the second longest streak with three straight wins starting in 1994, had a shot at another win last year at 82, but Bravazo wound up sixth. Still rolling along, he took Market King to the Preakness this year, though the horse had a horrible day.

8 - b. James G. Rowe Sr. won the race a record eight times between 1883 and 1913 as a trainer and twice as a jockey in 1872 and 1873. George M. Odom won the race as a jockey in 1904 on a horse trained by Rowe, and as a trainer himself in 1938. The transition from jockey to trainer is not one we see too often these days. And when it does happen, it often doesn't last. Gary Stevens, for example, very briefly trained in between one of his several retirements.

9 - d. Patch, a one-eyed horse, finished third in the Belmont last year, but there has never been a horse without four legs who won the Belmont. Or run in it. I mean honestly - how fast could a three-legged horse run? Though when I was a kid we had a three-legged dog that could run like the wind. He had one eye, too - needless to say, his name wasn't Lucky.

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