Horse racing's Triple Crown will look different this year from

start to finish.

The Belmont Stakes will be run before the Kentucky Derby and

Preakness for the first time and take place at a shorter distance.

It will lead off the Triple Crown on June 20 in New York with no

fans in attendance and at a distance of 1 1/8 miles instead of the

1 1/2-mile ''test of the champion'' that has been the race's

trademark for nearly a century.

''The way it fits in the calendar, it's a completely different race

than the traditional Belmont would be,'' New York Racing

Association president and CEO Dave O'Rourke said Tuesday. ''I think

we're going to have a big field. I think it'll be a really

competitive field. I think the dynamics of the race are different.''

The three Triple Crown races will be run out of their traditional

order for the first time since 1931. The Kentucky Derby was moved

from May 2 to Sept. 5 and the Preakness from May 16 to Oct. 3 amid

the coronavirus pandemic that has upended the sports calendar.

''I'm just happy we get to run,'' two-time Triple Crown-winning

trainer Bob Baffert said. ''I'm just fortunate that they didn't

cancel any of them. A couple months ago, it didn't look good.''

An out-of-order Triple Crown presents another set of challenges and

would be a different kind of accomplishment than the one competed

by the 13 past champions. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont

are usually run during a five-week span in the spring, and

3-year-olds are more mature by the summer and fall.

''It's going to help some, it's going to hurt others,'' trainer

Mark Casse said. ''You're going to see a lot stronger, probably a

bigger, stronger horse from May.''

The Belmont is only being run two weeks after it was scheduled, but

the shorter distance changes the complexion of the race and the

Triple Crown. It has been run at 1 1/2 miles each year dating to

1926 and last ran at 1 1/8 miles in 1894.

It's not the same going before the Kentucky Derby.

''The Belmont, running after that, the `test of champions' is: `How

tough is your horse? How can he handle it?''' said Baffert, who

trained 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 winner

Justify. ''Now, a mile and a half, they can handle it easier the

first time. It wouldn't be as difficult as it would be after

running those other two races.

Barclay Tagg would have been fine with running top contender Tiz

the Law at 1 1/2 miles, and Baffert plans for elite 3-year-olds

Nadal and Charlatan to go to the Belmont.

NYRA officials said in a release that the distance adjustment was

made ''to properly account for the schedule adjustments to the

Triple Crown series and overall calendar for 3-year-olds in

training.'' O'Rourke said there wasn't much debate about shortening

the race, and all comers are welcome.

''You wouldn't get that many horses going a mile and a half right

now,'' Baffert said. ''We would've gone a mile and a quarter, mile

and a half. I don't care what the distance was. We're going to be

there.''

The Belmont was originally scheduled for June 6. But racing in New

York was halted in late March after a backstretch worker tested

positive for COVID-19, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn't give the green

light to resume until Saturday.

O'Rourke said NYRA had been in touch with the Stronach Group that

owns Pimlico Race Course since the Kentucky Derby was rescheduled

so they could coordinate the timing of the Preakness and Belmont.

With little desire for squeezing in the Belmont in October before

the Breeders' Cup Nov. 6-7, the focus was on June or July while

awaiting government approval.

''We didn't have dates for a while. Every day seemed like a week,''

O'Rourke said. ''As long as we were able to start at Belmont the

first week of June, we thought we could hold to this June 20 date

with a different race in a sense of distance and whatnot.''

Live racing is gradually ramping up operations across North America

because tracks feel they can operate safely and still make money

without fans on site because of online betting and TV revenue. More

than $90 million was wagered off track last year on Belmont day,

and NYRA gets a cut of that money along with revenue from NBC.

Racing will return to Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on June 3

and go through July 12. The Belmont will be the highlight of that

meet, even with the purse reduced from $1.5 million to $1 million

as a result of the pandemic-related closures of racetracks and

casinos in New York.

The race will also offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points instead

of being the culmination of the Triple Crown that has been won by

just 13 horses. Doing so will be a different kind of challenge this

year, and Baffert hopes to build up his horses to still take a Run

for the Roses in September with the Belmont in the leadoff spot.

''I think they're going to be more competitive with that spaced-out

time,'' Baffert said. ''At the end of the day, the end game is the

Kentucky Derby. That Sept. 5 date is what we're all shooting for.''

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