Julie Jacobson/AP
Dornoch (6), ridden by Luis Saez, crossed the finish line ahead of Mind Frame (10), ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., to win the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs, New York.
CNN
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Dornoch won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday night, the first of its kind in Saratoga Springs, New York, 200 miles north of the currently under-renovated Belmont Park.
The Danny Gargan-trained horse, ridden by Luis Saez, came late into the final corner to take the lead in a 10-horse race and beat Kentucky Derby winner Mystique Dan and Preakness Stakes winner She’s the Grey., Who He is one of the leading contenders for the final jewel in this year’s Triple Crown race, along with the popular horse Sierra Leone, who came in third.
Saturday marked the first time in the Belmont Stakes’ 156-year history that the race was held at another racetrack.
Julia Nickinson/AP
Sierra Leone is the pre-race favorite to win this year’s Belmont Stakes.
After a surprise victory in the Kentucky Derby, Mystique Dan failed to keep his chances of winning the Triple Crown alive by finishing second in last month’s Preakness Stakes.
The race was won by She’s the Grey, who held off a challenge from Mystic Dan in the final straight.
Despite the two champions lining up to start Saturday, Sierra Leone was the pre-race favorite for the Belmont Stakes.
The 3-year-old was one of the horses involved in the Derby’s dramatic photo finish, eventually breaking away from a crowded field to finish second to Mystique Dan.
The Derby said in a news release that it was “the closest three-horse photo finish since 1947.”
“If (Sierra Leone) had run in a straight line, it’s hard to imagine he couldn’t have won,” trainer Chad Brown told the New York Post.
“But that’s horse racing. The Belmont Stakes will be a good consolation.”
The top contenders racing Saturday in Saratoga Springs had to deal with changes to the course and distance in this year’s race.
The Belmont Stakes has long been known as the “Trial of Champions” because it is run over a distance of 1.5 miles on the vast sand track at Belmont Park, but this year the race was scaled down to 1.25 miles.
1. Grab the Gray (8-1)
2. Recovery (10-1)
3. Mystic Dan (5-1)
4. Wine Steward (15-1)
5. Antique collector (12-1)
6. Dornoch (15-1)
7. Protective (20-1)
8. Honor Murray (12-1)
9. Sierra Leone (9-5)
10. Mind Frame (7-2)
