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Glite Dictionary
Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes

3 6.5
Annual horse race in Elmont, New York, for three-year-old horses and the final US Triple Crown race
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛlmɒnt steɪks/
translation icon : Belmont Stakes
  • The thrilling finish at the Belmont Stakes left the crowd cheering for the winning horse.
  • Belmont Stakes and Derby
  • Saturday's Belmont Stakes
  • Belmont Stakes in June

Examples

  • In the Belmont Stakes, and with Baffert sending Bodemeister home, he changed "weapons" and entered the talented but inexperienced Paynter in the 1-mile classic.

    Blog text (24)

  • The Belmont Stakes is known as the third and final leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.

  • This horse's father won the Belmont Stakes, man.

    The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

  • Horse racing continues to search for a horse that can win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes in the same year.

    Blog text (24)

  • Ed Fountaine in the New York Post similarly writes, "Is the Belmont Stakes snake-bit?"

    Blog text (24)

  • First, there's Whitney Tower's report from Big Red's record-shattering Belmont Stakes:

    Blog text (21)

  • This year's Belmont Stakes will feature a competitive field of young Thoroughbreds.

Synonyms

derby
vsBelmont Stakes
68 3.9

An important contest between rival teams or horses

is a named high-status event and final leg in a national series
thoroughbred race
vsBelmont Stakes
6.1

A horse race only for a special breed of horses bred for running

is a specific annual event for three-year-olds and Triple Crown final

Surface Forms

Belmont Stakes singular

Morphology

Belmont + stakes

This is a fixed proper-name for a specific horse race; the constituents 'Belmont' (a place name) and 'stakes' (money risked) do not transparently combine to mean 'an annual Thoroughbred race and Triple Crown leg'. The word 'stakes' has a specialized horseracing sense ('stakes race') that a B1 learner who only knows the basic meanings would not predict, so the overall meaning is idiomatic and not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Belmont Stakes is named after a rich horse owner, August Belmont, and the word stakes comes from the old idea of owners putting money 'at stake' as the prize. So the name fits: it is the big yearly race where three-year-old horses run to win the prize money.