Belmont Oaks at Belmont Park 2024

Early July sees Belmont Park stage its Belmont Derby and Oaks races, the former being a Grade I event on the turf for the three-year-old males over a trip of one-and-a-quarter miles.

At $1million, this race attracts the prize money its status deserves, allowing those favouring the turf over the traditional Triple Crown races on dirt tracks to be acknowledged as true top-class sophomores.

The Belmont Derby originated in the Jamaica Handicap, first staged in 1929 at the Jamaica Race Course (now closed).

Having changed the race conditions, the name, and the location, the Belmont Derby is now a significant part of the three-year-old turf schedule in the States.

Since becoming a grass event in 1994, the Belmont Derby has been won by Subordination, Court Vision, Deauville, and Oscar Performance.