No crowds, no cheering, no betting window lines: Local favorite Tiz the Law wins the COVID-19 Belmont Stakes before an empty grandstand

It was the Belmont Stakes as never before seen or unseen, run for an audience far from the finish line. And for sport-starved New Yorkers, that worked just fine.

The 152nd edition of the Triple Crown horse race went off Saturday inside the massive and empty Belmont Park as the pandemic erased the familiar sights and sounds of the yearly equine extravaganza: No 90,000 screaming fans. No lengthy lines at the betting windows. And no bartenders serving up the traditional Belmont Jewel: A mix of Woodford Reserve bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate.

One thing didn’t change: the first horse across the finish line still won. Favored Tiz the Law easily outpaced his nine 3-year-old challengers for the victory, becoming the first New York-bred to win the Belmont in 138 years.

Tiz the Law crosses the finish line ahead of Dr Post at Belmont on Saturday, June 20, 2020. (Seth Wenig/)

And yet ... there was nobody at the track to cash a winning ticket. Or shred a losing slip. Even the horse’s owners were banned from entering the building, and Tiz the Law crossed the finish line to a just a few random whoops of excitement.

“It doesn’t feel like a Triple Crown is starting, especially with the crowning jewel now the first of the three races,” said veteran racing scribe Richie Rosenblatt, who covered 35 previous Belmonts.

Frank Sinatra’s familiar version of “New York, New York” played as the horses meandered through the stillness to the starting gate. And New York-based trainer Todd Pletcher commented before the race to a television reporter that he wouldn’t mind hearing a few Big Apple boos to break the quiet.

Despite the drastic and unprecedented changes, this year’s running of the Belmont loomed particularly large with millions of sports-starved viewers nationwide tuning in for the biggest sporting event since the nation began shutting down in March. The horses took center stage in a month without baseball, the NBA playoffs or the Stanley Cup finals

It launched a strange Triple Crown season where the last became first. The Belmont is traditionally the final leg of horse racing’s three big races, but coronavirus scrambled the usual schedule: The Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness, and finally the 1½-mile Belmont.

The Derby has been postponed until Sept. 5, with the Preakness to follow Oct. 3.

The challenging Belmont length changed, too. The horses ran a COVID-19 truncated version of the typically grueling race, covering only 1⅛ miles. And even the winner’s purse was slashed this year, from the usual $1.5 million to $1 million.

There was nary a sound as the horses flew out of the gate at 5:45 p.m. — and even the gate was relocated. The entries, rather than starting directly in front of the grandstand on the massive oval, were moved to the far corner of the track and only traveled around two turns instead of the usual four.

The massive parking lot outside the venerable venue, home to 13 Triple Crown winners from Sir Barton in 1919 through Justify in 2018, was empty save for vehicles from a local car dealership parked in one section. Security was stationed at the Belmont entrances, making it impossible for frustrated railbirds to sneak in and get a peek at the race.

Signs were hung around the track perimeter reminding anyone interested that wagering was still available online.

The 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes without spectators at Belmont Park. (Al Bello/)

The track was filled with an eerie silence for the preliminary races on the card before the riders and horses for the Belmont came onto a fast track beneath sunny skies. Rosenblatt suggested that was a possible upside for the horses: No distraction from the hordes of fans as they are walked through the paddock toward the starting gate.

“It’s going to be a far different scene for sure,” agreed Pletcher earlier in the week. “It’s sad in some ways, but we’re grateful we’re getting an opportunity to run.”

Rosenblatt, in a pre-race assessment, noted the shortened race guaranteed one thing: “I think Secretariat’s Belmont record will be broken,” he joked.

The legendary Triple Crown winner covered the full-distance race in the all-time best 2:24 in his 31-length victory back in 1973. And yes, the mark still stands unchallenged despite the winning time of 1:45.53 in the shortened race.