by Tom Law

Rags to Riches and Curlin turned in a scintillating performance on the racetrack for the 139th edition of the Belmont Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park that was witnessed by the smallest on-track crowd in 11 years.

The New York Racing Association reported an attendance of 46,870 for Saturday’s Belmont, the smallest since 40,797 turned out in 1996 to see Editor’s Note defeat Skip Away by one length.
 
The attendance for this year’s Belmont was 20.1% smaller than last year’s crowd of 61,168 that showed up to see Jazil’s victory over Bluegrass Cat.
 
The largest crowd ever to turn out for the Belmont was 120,139 in 2004, when Birdstone foiled the Triple Crown bid of Smarty Jones.
On-track wagering on 13-race Belmont Stakes day card, totaled $8,843,720 compared with $8,958,323 in 2006.

An additional $712,406 was wagered by the on-track crowd on incoming simulcasts, increasing the total on-track handle to $9,556,126, a record Belmont Day handle when there was no Triple Crown opportunity.
 
Total all-sources handle for Belmont Stakes day was 75,587,892, compared with $81,465,277 in 2006. All-sources handle was down $5,877,385 while Belmont Stakes-only handle showed decline of $7,319,263, which was attributed to the five fewer betting interests in the race this year as compared with 2006.

Total all-sources handle for the 2007 Belmont Stakes was $37,786,382, compared with $45,105,645 for the 2006 Belmont Stakes, which had a 12-horse field.

Tom Law is managing editor of Thoroughbred Times