Lemon Drop Kid, ridden by José A. Santos and trained by Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer, won the 1-1/2 mile stakes race in front of a then-record 85,818 crowd, and thus denying Charismatic winning the Triple Crown.
[1] Charismatic, who had won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was made the 3-2 favorite in the Belmont as he attempted to win the Triple Crown.
His main rivals were expected to be Menifee (5-2), who had finished second in both the Derby and Preakness, and the filly Silverbulletday (5-1), who had won eight straight races.
Lemon Drop Kid, who had finished ninth in the Derby and third in the Peter Pan Stakes, was considered a longshot at odds of nearly 30-1.
In addition to losing a chance to win the Triple Crown, Antley was criticized by some for his racing tactics in pressing the early pace.