Belmont Stakes 2013 Results: Full Recap of 145th Run for the Carnations

In a thrilling finish to what's been a wildly unpredictable season of horse racing, Palace Malice won the 2013 Belmont Stakes ahead of Oxbow and Orb, who finished in second and third place, respectively, as reported by SportsCenter:

As you'd expect from the mile-and-a-half race at Belmont Park, there was an ebb and flow to the action. Frac Daddy, starting off on the rail at No. 1, set a fast pace early, with Freedom Child trailing not far behind. 

Preakness winner Oxbow made a strong push midway through the race, taking the lead at one point over Freedom Child while Palace Malice hung behind in fifth place.

By the time the horses entered the final turn, however, jockey Mike Smith unleashed his steed, and Palace Malice thundered out of the turn as if propelled by slingshot. 

In the end, Palace Malice won by a comfortable margin, according to Downey Profile:

Here's a look at the final standings, courtesy of the official NBC broadcast:

Place	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

With this win, Palace Malice became the seventh horse to win at Belmont after running in the Kentucky Derby and then skipping the Preakness.

Fresh legs are needed to conquer the race known as "The Test of Champions." It's tough for horses who ran at Pimlico to turn around a few weeks later and perform at a high level for 12 furlongs.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Palace Malice's 12th-place finish at Churchill Downs wasn't a good sign he'd perform well at Belmont, however. It was the third-worst finish by a horse who then went on to win the Belmont Stakes:

The fact that Oxbow finished ahead of Orb for the second race in a row is no small matter. History will show Oxbow's win at the Preakness was "not a fluke," as noted by America's Best Racing:

On a different note, it's safe to say Revolutionary's fifth-place finish, combined with his third-place finish at the Derby, puts him in a category a step below the three winners of this year's Triple Crown races.

With this year's Triple Crown season officially a thing of the past, we'll all have to wait another year to see if there's a horse out there capable of pulling off the holy trinity of horse racing. 

For now, however, it's nice to sit back and appreciate Palace Malice's improbable and exciting win. 

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78