Belmont Stakes 2012 Winner: Phyllis Wyeth Gets Well-Deserved Win with Union Rags

As Union Rags was greeted with the hero's welcome that comes with a Belmont Stakes win, no one was happier than owner Phyllis Wyeth. There wasn't any kind of special celebration, but if you know her, you understand why Union Rags' victory was so special to the wheelchair-bound colt owner.

She's been in a wheelchair for nearly 50 years. After a car accident confined her to a motorized scooter and now a wheelchair for much of her adult life, she's had numerous colts trained but never crowned through the course of her horse owning career.

And if I'll Have Another couldn't win it, there probably wasn't a better story than Union Rags charging down the stretch to knock off another Bob Baffert horse en route to a victory at another Triple Crown event.

Baffert's horse Paynter and jockey Mike Smith stormed out of the gate to an early lead and led right up until the last few yards, when Union Rags inched ahead and managed to pull out a victory for the owner that payed nearly double for her horse.

Trainer Michael Matz and jockey John Velazquez came through for Wyeth, who sold the yearling for $140,000 before buying him back as a two-year-old for $390,000. Wyeth thought she had something special with Union Rags, and she was right (via Newsday).

It's this kind of feel-good story that makes sports, no matter what the event, so much fun. Wyeth didn't complain or harp on her injury, she made the most of the sport that she loved the most. And in the end, she has been rewarded.

Time will tell if her good fortune on picking horses ever comes around again, but for now, this was about the best outcome you could hope for if you are a fan of the sport.

It was a close finish, I'll Have Another was honored before the race and Wyeth and Co. picked up the victory with a great finish in one of the best Belmont Stakes since Velazquez rode Rags to Riches to victory in 2007.