Belmont Stakes 2013 Winner: Palace Malice's Fresh Legs Too Much for Competition

Palace Malice brought fresh legs into the 2013 Belmont Stakes and walked away a big winner, beating Oxbow, Orb and the rest of the field, as reported by SportsCenter:

After finishing in 12th place at the Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher decided to keep Palace Malice from running in the Preakness Stakes, opting instead to rest his horse with the potential goal of running at Belmont.

It doesn't take an expert to see Pletcher's game plan paid off. That said, this result wasn't one many people expected, as ESPN Stats & Info points out. The horse's 12th-place finish at the Derby was the third-worst finish of any horse that went on to win at Belmont:

Oxbow and Orb both ran in the first two races, with Orb winning at the Derby and Oxbow winning the Preakness in wire-to-wire fashion.

In the end they didn't have the stamina to keep up with Palace Malice down the home stretch as he dramatically and unrelentingly pulled away from the field after the final turn. 

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

Clearly, fresh legs had everything to do with Palace Malice's victory. 

Orb and Oxbow proved their worth in the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Furthermore, their second- and third-place finishes in this race prove they had plenty of speed and stamina to perform well on the mile-and-a-half track at Belmont Park.

But neither horse could match the breakaway speed Palace Malice was able to pour on down the final stretch. The final two furlongs belonged to Pletcher's horse, and no other horse in the field had a chance of matching Palace Malice's final sprint. 

This year's Triple Crown races were won by three different horses, and it's been 35 years since a horse won all three races. Affirmed was the last horse to do it, way back in 1978.

Since the year 2000, seven horses—including Palace Malice—have won the Belmont after running in the Derby and then skipping the Preakness. 

With the feat of winning a Triple Crown becoming more and more elusive, we may see more trainers with horses who don't win the Derby opt out of the Preakness in favor of resting their horses for the Belmont.

For Pletcher, jockey Mike Smith, Cot Campbell and Dogwood Stables, the strategy worked to perfection. It was Smith's second victory at the Belmont Stakes—another feather in the cap of his illustrious career.

For Palace Malice, this victory propelled him into the history books. Winning "The Test of Champions" is no easy feat. Palace Malice is a name that will live on forever as his descendants attempt to match his achievements on the track—or better.

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