The “Belmont Jewel” became the official drink of the Belmont Stakes in 2011. The drink contains bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice and is garnished with a lemon wedge or a cherry.
 
The Belmont Stakes has had several official drinks. A drink called the “Big Apple” was briefly the official drink in 1976. The “White Carnation” (vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, soda, and a splash of cream) was the official drink from the 1980s until 1997’s Belmont Breeze. The “Belmont Breeze” (bourbon, sherry, simple syrup, lime juice, orange juice, cranberry juice, 7-Up, and club soda) was the official drink from 1997 until 2011’s Belmont Jewel.
   
A little-known cocktail called the “Belmont Park” (Bacardi rum, port, one egg and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar) apparently existed in the 1920s and might have been the first cocktail of the Belmont racetrack (although not necessarily of the Belmont Stakes race).
 
 
Wikipedia: Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) horse race, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown and is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes, on a Saturday between June 5 and June 11. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the mile and a half stakes record (which is also a track and world record on dirt) of 2:24.
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Along with the change of song in 1997, the official drink was also changed, from the “White Carnation” to the “Belmont Breeze.” The New York Times reviewed both cocktails unfavorably, calling the Belmont Breeze “a significant improvement over the nigh undrinkable White Carnation” despite the fact that it “tastes like a refined trashcan punch.” In 2011, the Belmont Breeze was again changed to the current official drink known as the “Belmont Jewel.”
 
BelmontStakes.com
THE BELMONT JEWEL
1.5 OZ KNOB CREEK BOURBON
2 OZ LEMONADE
1 OZ POMEGRANATE JUICE
 
SHAKE VIGOROUSLY WITH ICE AND SERVE IN A ROCKS GLASS WITH ICE. GARNISH WITH RED CHERRY OR A LEMON TWIST.
 
Twitter
WirtzBeverageGroup
‏@WirtzBevGroup
Belmont Jewel 1 ½ oz. Woodford Reserve
2 oz.  Lemonade
1 oz.  Pomegranate juice
http://ow.ly/i/cLSE
2:48 PM - 10 Jun 2011
   
bourbonblog.com
Belmont Stakes and the Belmont Jewel
Posted June 11, 2011 by Tom Fischer
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Woodford Reserve Belmont Jewel
Official Cocktail of the Belmont Stakes
Woodford Reserve1 ½ oz. Woodford Reserve
2 oz. Lemonade
1 oz. Pomegranate juice
– Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge or cherry.
 
PR Newswire
Belmont Stakes, Centerplate Go Local And Farm-Fresh With New Racetrack Cuisine
With Triple Crown in play, 100,000 plus expected for 2012 Belmont Stakes
BELMONT PARK, N.Y., June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/—Anticipating a crowd of over 100,000 fans at Belmont Park for the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, Centerplate is proud to announce a new farm-to-table, chef-inspired hospitality menu for the 2012 Belmont Stakes, grounded in treasured local flavors. Sourced from local and regional farms, the menu pays tribute to the rich traditions of both horseracing and farming in New York. In addition to Belmont Park’s classic fan favorites, Centerplate’s new menu will debut the brand-new signature cocktail for the Belmont Stakes, the “Belmont Jewel,” a crowd-pleasing cocktail featuring small-batch bourbon blended with pomegranate and lemonade.
 
Fox News
The Belmont Jewel: Belmont Stakes’ new official cocktail, again
Published June 08, 2012
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But when it comes to cocktails, thirsty spectators will be certainly be shouting for the race’s official drink.
 
It’s called the Belmont Jewel, but unlike the other classic race cocktails it’s hardly had time to become a classic. That’s because New York can’t seem to stick with one signature cocktail to mark their race. 
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The newest drink, the Belmont Jewel, is decidedly more simple and made with fresh ingredients: Woodford Reserve bourbon, lemonade, and pomegranate.
 
New York (NY) Times—The Rail blog
A Signature Race in a Signature Series Lacks a Signature Drink
By ROGER VAN DER HORST JUNE 9, 2012 1:32 PM
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The Preakness has its changing Black-Eyed Susan, and the Belmont has its, well, history of changing official drinks. The latest is the Belmont Jewel, which requires the race’s official bourbon (Woodford Reserve), lemonade and pomegranate. “That doesn’t sound very inspiring,” said Dave Wondrich, the cocktail writer and historian.
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Or Belmont could simply update the Jewel’s predecessor, the Belmont Breeze, concocted by Wondrich’s friend Dale DeGroff, a New York mixologist. DeGroff introduced the drink in 1998, “when people’s tastes were a little different,” Wondrich said, adding, “It was the era of the cosmopolitan, so he made something light and juicy.”” The recipe calls for bourbon, sherry, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange juice and cranberry juice.
 
“I think you could rework that one, take out some of the juice, and you’d have a fantastic modern drink,” Wondrich said.
 
Newsday (Long Island, NY)
The Belmont Jewel: Belmont Stakes keeps changing its official drink
Updated June 4, 2015 10:19 PM
By RIDGELY OCHS .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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In the 147 years of the Elmont race, there have been several official drinks. Since 2011 it has been the Belmont Jewel.
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The reason? The official drink has changed. Several times.
 
Before the Belmont Jewel it was the Belmont Breeze.
 
Before that it was the White Carnation.
 
And very briefly, according to the former general manager of the food and drink concession at Belmont Park until 1975, it was a drink called the Big Apple.
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But, as part of an overall modernizing and “refresher,” a Centerplate spokesman said, the Breeze was replaced by the Jewel—a reference to the Belmont Stakes as the third jewel in the Triple Crown. Easier to make both at home and on a grand scale at the track, the drink was “more fan-friendly,” the spokesman said.