Belmont Stakes 2015 Winner: American Pharoah's Triple Crown Times and Purse

The 37-year wait is over. American Pharoah won the 2015 Belmont Stakes Saturday, securing the first Triple Crown since 1978 in a blistering winning time of 2:26.65. 

Jockey Victor Espinoza couldn't have won his first Belmont Stakes in a bigger moment, joining the sport's most exclusive club that just notched its 12th member, as shown by Bleacher Report:

Frosted closed strong to push him Pharoah in the final stretch, and Keen Ice raced past Mubtaahij to finish third, but they couldn't keep AP from pulling away. During the last furlongs that have doomed so many Triple Crown hopefuls, he just continued to assert his dominance.

Unlike the last 13 horses who have tried and failed at the feat since Affirmed last did it, American Pharoah overcame the treacherous 1 ½ miles and a stable of fresher horses. In stepping over the obstacles that have tripped up so many of this generation's greats, he etched his name in horse racing lore.

Here's how the race shook out, along with payouts for win, place and show:

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	5	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	----
2	6	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	5 1/2
3	7	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	7 1/2
4	1	Mubtaahij	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Mike de Kock	7 3/4
5	4	Frammento	Mike Smith	Nick Zito	16 1/4
6	3	Madefromlucky	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	18 3/4
7	2	Tale of Verve	Gary Stevens	Dallas Stewart	21 1/2
8	8	Materiality	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	23 1/4

Post	Horse	1	2	3
5	American Pharoah	$3.50	$2.80	$2.50
6	Frosted	-----	$3.50	$2.90
7	Keen Ice	-----	-----	$4.50

The opening few seconds of Saturday's race presented a worrying sign for American Pharoah, but it didn't last long.

The plan to start hot out of the gates wasn't a secret for AP coming out of the fifth post, but Espinoza struggled to implement it early. He didn't break well out of the gate, nearly conceding the chance to set the pace before he found his bearings and got to the front of the pack.

What followed for the next mile was nearly identical to what happened at the Preakness. In front of the pack by a length and running at his preferred speed, American Pharoah was in a position where only a furious late charge would overtake him.

That almost materialized with Frosted, who faded in the middle of the race before turning it on down the stretch. But instead of the extra five weeks of rest proving crucial, American Pharoah scoffed at the challenge and pulled away.

The Courier-Journal's Jeff Greer summed it up aptly:

More than five lengths separated the two by the time Pharoah crossed the finish line, as he secured the fastest Triple Crown-winning time since Secretariat and the sixth-fastest in history, per The Downey Profile:

After American Pharoah pulled away at the Preakness in a wire-to-wire race and emerged as the early leader Saturday, holding onto the lead throughout proved to be the best route to victory for Espinoza and company. They followed in the path of the two most recent Triple Crown winners in the process, as shown by ESPN Stats & Info:

The win not only ended a near four-decade drought for the sport, but it also marked a breakthrough for trainer Bob Baffert. After he brought three horses to the doorstep of history, only to lose at Belmont, the fourth time proved to be the charm.

He made it a point to thank those who helped to get him started in the industry, as told by Molly Jo Rosen of Fillyosophy.com:

The win also signaled a changing of the guard for Espinoza, who won his first Belmont after coming up short on California Chrome a year ago. The jockey let some foul language slip on the NBC broadcast, which only summed up the significance of the moment, per The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds:

But as huge as the win proved to be for Baffert and Espinoza individually, Saturday was all about one horse and his run to history. 

The chips were stacked against American Pharoah just as they have been for any Triple Crown hopeful at Belmont. He went up against six horses who skipped the Preakness after running at the Kentucky Derby, but he looked no worse for wear despite running in his third race in a five-week span.

American Pharoah has looked the part of a special horse ever since he reigned supreme at Churchill Downs. The whispers of a Triple Crown have engulfed the sport since then, and for the first time in nearly four decades, the hype was warranted.

The impossible nature of the Triple Crown left many to wonder if anyone would ever accomplish the feat again, but American Pharoah proved that it can be done. Now, it's up to a crop of two-year-olds to match his feat in 2016.

Who knows...maybe a streak of another kind—consecutive Triple Crown winners—is in order. But after Saturday, anyone under the age of 38 can finally say they have witnessed a Triple Crown in their lifetime.