Belmont Stakes 2013 Results: Recapping the Exciting Action from 145th Race

The 145th running of the Belmont Stakes was short on drama down the stretch, but that hardly dilutes the thrilling victory of Palace Malice.

Running out of the No. 12 post, the 15-1 underdog Palace Malice was a cut above the rest in this one, running a beautiful pace and finding himself toward the front throughout.

He and Preakness winner Oxbox were the two front-runners coming into the last turn, but Palace Malice—ridden by Mike Smith—was able to outlast him and pull away by nearly four lengths.

Kentucky Derby winner (and odds-on favorite) Orb made his patented late surge, flying from the back of the pack to the front in the second half of the race. Palace Malice and Oxbow were both more tired toward the end (the latter more than the former), but Orb simply dug himself into too big of a hole this time. He had too much ground to make up.

Jockey Mike Smith, a Hall of Fame racer, wins his second Belmont Stakes after guiding Drosselmeyer to victory in 2010. That year, just like this year, Smith's victory at Belmont ensured that three different horses would win the three Triple Crown races.

Four of the past five years have seen no multiple winners, and six of the last eight. Prior to that, though, one horse had one multiple races in five consecutive years and eight of nine.

Palace Malice showed great resolve to come out victorious, having been humbled with a 12th place finish at the Kentucky Derby. Per ESPN Stats & Info., that's the third-worst Derby finish for an eventual Belmont Stakes champion.

Full results from Belmont can be seen below (per NBC telecast):

Finish	Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer
1	12	Palace Malice	Mike Smith	Todd Pletcher
2	7	Oxbow	Gary Stevens	D. Wayne Lukas
3	5	Orb	Joel Rosario	Shug McGaughey
4	6	Incognito	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Kiaran McLaughlin
5	9	Revolutionary	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher
6	13	Unlimited Budget	Rosie Napravnik	Todd Pletcher
7	3	Overanalyze	Johh Velazquez	Todd Pletcher
8	11	Vyjack	Julien Leparoux	Rudy Rogriguez
9	14	Golden Soul	Robby Albarado	Dallas Stewart
10	10	Will Take Charge	Jon Court	D. Wayne Lukas
11	4	Giant Finish	Edgar Prado	Anthony Dutrow
12	8	Midnight Taboo	Garrett Gomez	Todd Pletcher
13	2	Freedom Child	Luis Saez	Tom Albertrani
14	1	Frac Daddy	Alan Garcia	Ken McPeek