Test of the Champion: The Story of the Belmont Dynasty.
The grand old names of American Thoroughbred horse racing—Whitney, Phipps, DuPont, Mellon, and Widener—exude images of industry tycoons and lineages traceable to the Mayflower. But several of the most important equestrians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries hailed from a clan far more blue-collar than blue-blooded. Meet the family Belmont, namesakes of Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, as well as the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the Triple Crown. The 149th running of the “Test of the Champion,” as the 1 ½-mile contest has been dubbed, takes place on June 10, 2017.
The Belmonts’ origin story traces back more than 200 years, to the German town of Alzey. There, Simon Schönberg, a prominent Jewish citizen, and his wife, Fredericka, had a young child named August. Some sources claim their last name was Balmain, which was later Anglicized into “Belmont,” but “Schönberg” and “Belmont” both translate to “beautiful mountain” in English. Historian Bernard Livingston recounted in Their Turf: America’s Horsey Set and Its Princely Dynasties that August Belmont I began his career in finance essentially as an unpaid intern. At age fifteen, he started by sweeping the floors and taking out the trash for free at the banking house of the famed Rothschild clan, allegedly his distant cousins.
This story is from the Issue 60 edition of TriBeCa Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 60 edition of TriBeCa Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Humanity First
As I listened to Donald J. Trump’s “America First” inaugural speech on NPR, I was struck by a conversation I had had with my Afghan daughter before she departed for a semester in Rome the day before the inauguration.
Truth Or Consequence
History In The Digital Age.
Our Little Racket
Our Little Racket.
Statue Of Limitations
Statue Of Limitations.
Hamptons International Film Festival’s Silver Anniversary
Hamptons International Film Festival's Silver Anniversary
Saint In The City
Seeking the star man on the streets of soho.
We Can End America's Addiction Crisis... But Only Together
I had a horrible feeling that late October Friday in 2012.
Colonial Day Along The Gold Coast
Do you know about colonial day?
One Atlantic Events
Over the ocean, your perfect special event venue is waiting.
Scott Swimming Pools
Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. is a luxury design-build swimming pool company celebrating its 80th year in business this year.