[2] Stage Door Johnny was a chestnut horse with a white blaze, owned by the Whitney family's Greentree Stable.
Stage Door Johnny's damsire was the Irish colt Ballymoss, winner of several races at the Belmont Stakes distance of 1½ miles including the Irish Derby, England's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Stage Door Johnny did not run in the 1¼ mile Kentucky Derby or the 1 3/16 mile Preakness Stakes.
Racing Hall of Fame inductee John M. Gaver, Sr., he was bred and conditioned for success in the gruelling 1½ mile Belmont Stakes.
A victory by Forward Pass in the Belmont Stakes would make him the first Triple Crown winner in twenty years and many fans, experts, and CBS racing commentators felt he would be an illegitimate champion.
Ridden by Heliodoro Gustines, Stage Door Johnny ended the Triple Crown debate when he won the Belmont Stakes in 2:27 1/5 with Forward Pass second, a length and a half back.