Belmont Stakes 2015 Winner: Analysis, Highlights from American Pharoah's Victory

The long-awaited end to the 37-year Triple Crown drought has finally come to an end.

American Pharoah was spectacular once more, earning a wire-to-wire victory in the 2015 Belmont Stakes to complete the three-race sweep and win horse racing's most coveted feat. Pharoah became the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to do so, ending the sport's longest lull without a Triple Crown champion.

Fittingly enough, the horse with the misspelled name will now be etched into the history books alongside greats such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew and others—and Pharoah's performance at Belmont Park was absolutely worthy of horse racing immortality.

The colt's finishing time of 2:26.65 was the fastest since A.P. Indy in 1992 and the second fastest of all Triple Crown winners—behind just Secretariat. He was also just the second horse in 30 years to produce a wire-to-wire victory in the Belmont Stakes.

Here's a look back at Pharoah's historic run:

Pharoah outlasted a field of fresher horses to defeat Frosted by 5 1/2 lengths. Keen Ice—a long shot with a good distance pedigree—finished third and Mubtaahij rounded out the top four. It wasn't a good day for trainer Todd Pletcher, as his two horses finished sixth and eighth.

Take a glance at the full finishing order:

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Time/Lengths
1	5	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	2:26.65
2	6	Frosted	Joel Rosario	5 1/2
3	7	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	7 1/2
4	1	Mubtaahij	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	7 3/4
5	4	Frammento	Mike Smith	16 1/4
6	3	Madefromlucky	Javier Castellano	18 3/4
7	2	Tale of Verve	Gary Stevens	21 1/2
8	8	Materiality	John Velazquez	23 1/4

After a slight stumble out of the gate, American Pharoah showcased the same great acceleration that was on display in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, bursting through the middle of the pack to claim the race's lead position.

Peter Morgan/Associated Press

Getting out in front early was a wise maneuver by jockey Victor Espinoza, as Pharoah avoided running too far off the rail and adding unnecessary distance to an already lengthy 1 1/2-mile race. This allowed the colt to run at a brisk pace, forcing his competition to try to keep up.

Pharoah breezed through the first half of the race, reaching the three-quarter-mile mark in just 1:13.41. He maintained a one-length lead right up until the top of the stretch, and then Pharoah's great stamina and closing ability came into play.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The colt started make his run toward glory, pulling away from the pack with ease. He was given slight chase by Frosted from the inside, but the challenge wouldn't last, as Frosted began to run out of gas. Not Pharoah, though. With the Triple Crown in his sights, he continued to glide to the finish line and notched an impressive 5 1/2-length victory.

It was truly an epic win for the sport of horse racing, and the crowd at Belmont Park knew it. The cheers rang out from the complex for several minutes after Pharoah crossed the finish line. It was truly an emotional and breathtaking sight.

Trainer Bob Baffert put it best during a post-race interview, via Dan Wolken of USA Today, saying, "I think for everybody in the industry, it makes us feel really good about our sport. We need something like that and watching him run today, everybody came to see something great and we witnessed it."

Pharoah's run to glory was truly a sight to behold, and it's one that won't be forgotten any time soon.