Belmont Stakes 2015: American Pharoah Race Highlights and Prize Money Earnings

American Pharoah passed the Test of the Champion with flying colors, controlling the 2015 Belmont Stakes from start to finish to win the Triple Crown.

The 5 1/2-length victory places American Pharoah among a select group of horses to conquer the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

In front of a raucous crowd eager to witness history, the heavy favorite led throughout the 1 1/2-mile track, quickly overcoming a shaky break to grab an early lead he'd never relinquish. While runner-up Frosted—the biggest threat to Pharoah's Triple Crown candidacy—kept a steady pace during the opening mile, he and everyone else eventually fell way behind the victor.

Although the first- and second-place finishers panned out according to plan, Todd Pletcher's top contender, Materiality, finished in last place among the eight participants. Keen Ice instead snatched a distant third spot.

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

Neither American Pharoah nor Frosted payed too well in their anticipated final slots, but Keen Ice gave bettors some return on investment in the show slot.

Horse	Win	Place	Show
American Pharoah	$3.50	$2.80	$2.50
Frosted	---	$3.50	$2.90
Keen Ice	---	---	$4.60

Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, a dozen horses entered Belmont Park with a shot to etch his name into the record books. Yet all succumbed to the duress of running three races in a short window, a quick turnaround that did not faze American Pharoah.

As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, Bob Baffert's colt snapped the longest drought in history:

Just as he hoped, Victor Espinoza's third time proved the charm. The jockey won two of three with Baffert's War Emblem 13 years ago and won the Derby and Preakness with California Chrome last year. 

"It's just unbelievable how things worked out," a jubilant Espinoza said after the race, per USA Today's Dan Wolken. "I feel so good. I hope American Pharoah feels like me."

Of course, sports feats always get evaluated as much as celebrated. Once the chase ended, everyone immediately took out the measuring sticks and weighed American Pharoah against other Triple Crown legends. Sports Illustrated's Mike Harris compared Saturday's strong run to Secretariat's all-time dominant Belmont display:

This is essentially the same conversation as those who insist on trapping LeBron James under Michael Jordan's shadow. Even if American Pharoah isn't the best race-horse ever, the accomplishment magnifies in difficulty during an era where few trainers enter their colts in all three races.

This year, nobody else ran them all, and Tale of Verve was the only other Belmont participant who competed at Pimlico.

American Pharoah's work is done, but Baffert and Espinoza will stick around to reap the rewards. The Hall of Fame trainer gets another massive line for his resume, giving him seven total victories at Triple Crown events.

Espinoza has rode the winner of five of the last six major races. The 43-year-old jockey will certainly be in high demand next year.