Belmont Stakes 2012 Payouts: Atigun Overcomes Long Odds to Show at Belmont

Atigun made a lot of bettors happy with their payouts by finishing in third place at the 2012 Belmont Stakes. He had been given 20-to-1 odds to win the race, according to Bovada.com, and anyone who bet on him to show earned more than five dollars for every dollar they bet.

This year's race at Belmont Field was a slow one, according to The Daily's Dan Wolken:

"

The final time 2:30 and 2/5 is SLOW...Real slow. Will always wonder what might have been.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) June 9, 2012"

This may have had something to do with why a horse like Atigun was able to hang around the leaders until the end. Even his own jockey, Julien Leparoux, didn't expect him to be able to keep up with the pace before the race, via ESPN.com:

"

This is a nice, good-looking horse [Atigun]. He's probably going to just be in the back of the pack. He doesn't have to be last, but he's probably going to be sitting off the pace. I hear he's been working very well over the track, so we'll see what happens—first time going a mile and a half, and you never know in this kind of race.

"

Whatever the reason, Atigun's surprising performance at this year's Belmont has made the folks who bet on him happy, to be sure.

Winner Union Rags earned bettors who picked him a nominal gain, and the same can be said for folks who bet on Paynter to either place or show.

Here are the final results and payouts, via Equibase.com.

Pgm	Horse	Jockey	Win	Place	Show
3	Union Rags	John R. Velasquez	$7.50	$4.20	$3.40
9	Paynter	Mike E. Smith		$5.10	$3.90
4	Atigun	Julien R. Leparoux			$10.60

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