Some 3 1/2 years ago, when the New York Racing Association (NYRA) first announced that the GI Belmont Stakes would be relocated to Saratoga Race Course during the extensive renovation of Belmont Park, there was plenty of hand-wringing about whether or not the three-year move to a different track and a cutback in distance from 12 to 10 furlongs constituted over-tinkering with the third jewel of the Triple Crown.“The debate is healthy. It means fans care,” I wrote in a Dec. 10, 2023 installment of this column. “But the racing world isn't about to tilt off its axis because of changes that will probably end up making the best of an unavoidable, temporary transition.”Now that three abbreviated versions of the “Test of a Champion” are in the books, it is hard not to argue that the mini-meets at Saratoga have been an aesthetic success.And I say that from the perspective of someone who would have been perfectly fine with utilitarian Aqueduct Racetrack getting a classy send-off by being allowed to host Triple Crown stakes in each of its last three years before the track ceases racing later this month.In fact, the tourism-ready, big-race festival atmosphere in upstate Saratoga might have worked too well in providing an exclamation point that workmanlike Aqueduct in Queens never could have matched.With all of NYRA's downstate racing getting consolidated at the reimagined, smaller Belmont Park when it opens in September, you have to wonder how long it will take for at least some monotony of a two-track circuit to settle in once Saratoga goes back to 40 dates of racing and Belmont, its newness eventually wearing off, shoulders the other 10 months of the year.No 12 furlongs? No problem.From a historical perspective, the cutback to 1 1/4 miles ended up being a non-issue, at least in terms of not besmirching the record books with asterisks. That's because no Triple Crown was ever on the line at Saratoga in the past three years.In that 2023 column for TDN, I wrote that with concerns of Triple Crown continuity in mind, “maybe the best outcomes to root for [at Saratoga] are close, competitive editions of the Belmont Stakes, with no one horse sweeping the series.”Turns out, that's what we got. All three runnings were a pretty good show.In 2024, the 17-1 Dornoch dueled the GI Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey into defeat, then withstood a late challenge from favored Sierra Leone (the eventual 3-year-old champion). The top three finishers were separated by only 1 1/2 lengths.In 2025, the Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who had skipped the Preakness, reeled in Journalism (Curlin), the Preakness victor, inside the eighth pole, kicking clear late to score by three lengths. Sovereignty would win the GI Travers Stakes by 10 lengths later that summer at the Spa, and would eventually be crowned 3-year-old champ and Horse of the Year.On Saturday, Golden Tempo (Curlin), another Derby winner who bypassed the Preakness, was let go at generous 6-1 odds because most handicappers bet against him being able to replicate his last-to-first performance in Louisville against a Belmont field that appeared lacking in early pace.Breaking slowly and to the outside from the outermost nine stall, Golden Tempo did indeed get parked well behind moderate fractions in the early stages of the Belmont. Jose Ortiz kept him in last until 3 1/2 furlongs out, splitting horses and then switching outside, with the 6-1 Commandment (Into Mischief) shadowing him one path wider through the far turn.Golden Tempo uncoiled in the six path heading for home, flanked inside by 1.75-1 favorite Renegade (Into Mischief) and Commandment outside. The Derby winner shrugged off Renegade just before cresting the sixteenth pole, while the more stubborn Commandment stayed on until 50 yards out. All the while Golden Tempo continued to build upon forward momentum, extending his winning margin to 1 1/4 lengths and looking as if 12 furlongs would have been well within his comfort zone.But comparing the three recent 10-furlong versions of the Belmont to each other, Golden Tempo's was decidedly the slowest.Sovereignty's Belmont, over a track rated “good,” was by far the fastest. His final time of 2:00.69 translated to a 109 Beyer Speed Figure, and he made his winning move accelerating through a final quarter-mile timed in an impressive :23.99.Dornoch clocked 2:01.64 for his Belmont (101 Beyer), although his final quarter of 26.13 lagged among the three.Golden Tempo was timed in 2:03.49 (98 Beyer), rallying late into a :25.93 closing quarter-mile. The skies had opened with rain prior to Saturday's race going off, but the track remained rated “fast.”Widening the lens…Regardless of the race's distance, since 2000 (not counting the pandemic-altered 2020 season), the Belmont Stakes has now been won by 14 horses who ran in the Derby, then opted out of the Preakness Stakes.Since skipping the Preakness with a healthy Derby winner has only recently come into vogue, Sovereignty and Golden Tempo have been the only two Derby winners to accomplish that feat.During the same 21st Century time frame, eight horses won the Belmont after not having run in either the Derby or Preakness.There were also two Triple Crown winners (Justify in 2018 and American Pharoah in 2015) who, of course, ran in all three stakes.Two others–Afleet Alex in 2005 and Point Given in 2001–ran in the Derby, won the Preakness, then also won the Belmont.Changing styles…Where have all the truly dangerous early-speed threats gone in the Triple Crown?Between 2014 and 2021, horses who raced either on the front end or forced the pace right behind the leader crossed the finish wire first in eight consecutive Kentucky Derbies (not counting two DQs).In the five years since then, from a total of 15 Triple Crown races between 2022 and 2026, only five Triple Crown stakes have been won by forwardly placed horses.Four of those wire-to-wire or pace-pressing victories were in the GI Preakness Stakes: Early Voting in 2022, National Treasure in 2023, Seize the Grey in 2024 and Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) in 2026.Dornoch in 2024 was the Belmont's lone with-the-pace winner during that time frame.For the past five Derbies, every winner has rallied from well off the tailgate, with the exception of Mystik Dan in 2024, who stalked at the rail mid-pack while about three or four lengths behind the leaders.In 2025-26, there were 36 qualifying races on the American portion of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points series. Only three were won in wire-to-wire fashion. Speed horses pressing the pace won 10, stalkers won 13, and deep closers won 10.The post The Week in Review: Aesthetics Outnumbered Asterisks, and Saratoga Shined as Temporary Belmont Host appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.