Overnight ratings down for Belmont

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.