Overnight ratings for NBC's broadcast of Saturday's 134th Belmont Stakes were strong, with the Belmont telecast earning a 9.2 rating and 21 share. The best Belmont overnight number for any of the attempts at the Visa Triple Crown in the 1990's was 6.6.In addition, the 9.2 rating topped this year's Kentucky Derby overnight, which was 8.3. If the final Belmont rating is higher than the Derby rating, it would mark the first time since Seattle Slew's Triple Crown sweep in 1977 that the Belmont out rated the Derby.
Fans were also tuned in on the internet on Saturday. NYRA.com logged just more than 8 million hits on Belmont Stakes Day. More than 117,206 unique visitors used the web site on Saturday.