Belmont Stakes Schedule 2015: Race Times, Undercard Events and TV Coverage
American Pharoah's quest for the Triple Crown will only be the end to a long day of expensive racing at the 2015 Belmont Stakes, with almost $8 million in combined purse money up for grabs among the bevy of races.
Things will get kicked off before noon at Belmont Park, beginning a marathon day of action capped off by the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes. While those two minutes and change will be must-watch television, the same could be said of a few other races to be aired on NBC prior to the 147th running of the Belmont.
Most of the marquee races will be available to watch on NBC platforms. Take a look below at the full schedule along with pertinent TV information.
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Full Belmont Stakes Schedule
| 1 | WinStar Farm Easy Goer | 11:35 a.m. | $150,000 |
| 2 | Woody Stephens | 12:39 p.m. | $500,000 |
| 3 | Jaipur Invitational | 1:15 p.m. | $300,000 |
| 4 | Ogden Phillips | 1:53 p.m. | $1 million |
| 5 | Brooklyn Invitational | 2:34 p.m. | $400,000 |
| 6 | TVG Acorn | 3:15 p.m. | $750,000 |
| 7 | Longines Just a Game | 4:00 p.m. | $700,000 |
| 8 | NYRA.com Metropolitan Handicap | 4:49 p.m. | $1.25 million |
| 9 | Knob Creek Manhattan | 5:46 p.m. | $1 million |
| 10 | Belmont Stakes | 6:50 p.m. | $1.5 million |
TV Coverage
Coverage will begin on NBC Sports Network at 2:30 p.m. ET, continuing on NBC at 4:30 p.m. ET through the Belmont Stakes.
Belmont is used to the prospect of hosting one of the biggest events in sports, since that's what it always turns out to be. But that hasn't stopped them from taking unprecedented measures for the circus that's to come on Saturday.
Anticipating a historic turnout, the NYRA decided to set a limit on ticket-buying at 90,000. That should help prevent the overcrowding from last year, when more than 100,000 people showed up for California Chrome's failed bid at history.
This will be the 14th time since Affirmed last did it in 1978 that a horse has won the Triple Crown's first two legs, but the previous 13 couldn't make it to the winner's circle. Three of those were trained by Bob Baffert, who doesn't believe his horse is going to fall victim to the fatigue and rigors of the 1 1/2-mile track like other horses have, as per Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman:
American Pharoah's quest for history—to be challenged by worthy contenders like Frosted, Materiality and others—will obviously take center stage for most of Saturday afternoon. But don't let that keep you from taking in some other signature races.
The first one that NBC viewers can catch is the Metropolitan Handicap (or the Met Mile), which features a familiar name in Tonalist. That's right—the horse who won last year's Belmont Stakes and helped end California Chrome's hopes.
Even after winning one of the sport's marquee races this time last year, trainer Christophe Clement thinks his horse is even stronger as a 4-year-old, per The Courier-Joural's Jonathan Lintner:
"He's probably a bit stronger from 3 to 4," Clement said. "I liked him last year. He's probably grown a little but mostly he's just filled out more. He's training again very well. He's a very exciting horse. We're excited for the race."
Another horse to keep an eye on at the Met Mile is Wicked Strong, who has turned some heads at Belmont Park in preparation. David Grening of Daily Racing Form reported jockey Joel Rosario rode Wicked Strong to five furlongs in just 58.74 seconds in a recent training session.
Following the Met Mile will be the Knob Creek Manhattan Handicap, a $1 million purse race taking place just over an hour before the Belmont Stakes.
Shortly after that one ends, the anticipation will be palpable. American Pharoah might even need to channel a trend of American sports stars to drown out all of the noise from the 90,000-plus around him, per Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden:
American Pharoah enters Saturday on the doorstep of history, but more than a dozen have tried and failed since it was last done—for a reason. Some of the greatest horses of this generation have been unable to pull it off.
No matter how Saturday's race unfolds, American Pharoah has proven himself in that category. But if he can go just 12 furlongs more as the leader, his legend would surpass many of those before him.
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