NBC’s broadcast of Saturday’s Belmont S. (G1) earned a 5.0 overnight rating
and an 11 share, down significantly from last year’s 13.4 overnight rating and
27 share when Smarty Jones made a bid to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown
winner.
The rating is 2 percent higher than the last non-Triple Crown Belmont
telecast on NBC in 2001 which received a 4.9/13.
The pre-race segment (5:30-6:15 p.m. [EDT]) averaged a 3.9/9, down 2 percent
from 2001, while the race segment (6:15-7 p.m.) averaged a 6.0/13, up 13 percent
compared to 2001.
The top five metered markets were West Palm Beach (9.4), Philadelphia (8.8),
Louisville (8.8), Knoxville (8.4) and Jacksonville (8.1).
A total of 62,274 turned out on a hot and humid afternoon in Elmont, New
York, to see AFLEET ALEX (Northern Afleet) dominate the 137th running of the
Belmont. The attendance was the lowest since 1996 when 40,797 gathered to watch
Editor’s Note win the “Test of Champions.”
However, in the last three years, and in six of the last eight runnings of
the Belmont, a Triple Crown was on the line.
The race set a record for wagering on a non-Triple Crown running of the
Belmont, generating all-sources handle of $47,980,531. Overall handle on the
entire 13-race card was $87,542,041, also a record on a non-Triple Crown Belmont
day and the fourth highest in history.
The day also set a new record for Pick 4 wagering in New York with $1,846,220
wagered into the $1 million guaranteed pool that ended on the Belmont.
On track wagering was $9,463,840, the second highest in history when there
was no Triple Crown possibility.