Belmont Stakes Results 2015: American Pharoah Highlights and Triple Crown Times

Against some ominous historical odds, American Pharoah defeated a field of rested contenders to win the 2015 Belmont Stakes and subsequently end the 37-year Triple Crown drought.

Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, a total of 13 horses entered the Belmont Stakes with the same aspirations—each left empty-handed. Not only did Pharoah buck that trend and become the 12th Triple Crown winner, but he did so in impressive fashion.

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Pharoah'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 only the legendary Secretariat. Adding to Pharoah's dominance at Belmont Park, his wire-to-wire victory was just the 1 ½-mile race's second in 30 years. That's nothing short of astonishing considering his previous grueling contests at Churchill Downs and Pimlico.

Trainer Bob Baffert finally notched his first Triple Crown after three previous attempts. He shared his feelings during a post-race press conference, per Dan Wolken of USA Today: "There's something about this horse, he just brought it every time. He's just an enjoyment to be around. I wasn't as nervous as I usually am because I really felt I had the horse."

He had the horse, indeed. Here's another look at Pharoah's historic run at Belmont Park:

Pharoah proved to be the best horse in the field once again. Despite running three races in a matter of five weeks, he easily outlasted his nearest competitor, defeating Frosted by 5 ½ lengths. Keen Ice was a surprising third-place finisher, and Mubtaahij rounded out the top four.

Here's a glance at the race's complete 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

How we got to that end result was simply impressive on Pharoah's part.

The colt didn't have the cleanest break, briefly falling a head behind his opposition. However, his phenomenal acceleration soon took over the race, as he burst through the middle of the pack and settled into the lead position well before reaching the first turn.

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That strategy allowed Pharoah to run close to the rail for the majority of the race, avoiding the possibility of lengthening the already long 1 ½-mile distance. Jockey Victor Espinoza must have known Pharoah could handle the early sprint, as the horse was forced to do the same in both the Kentucky Derby (starting far out wide) and the Preakness Stakes (starting from the No. 1 post).

Once out in front, Pharoah began to showcase his smooth gallop and cruised along at a brisk pace. He reached the quarter-mile mark in 24.06 seconds and didn't let up after, completing three quarters of a mile in a time of 1:13.41, all the while maintaining a one-length lead over his nearest competitor.

At the top of the stretch, Pharoah's lead increased to two lengths; however, Frosted began to make a run from the inside, passing Materiality and moving into second place. The challenge fizzled out quickly, though, as Frosted began to lose his head of steam, while Pharoah's stamina allowed him to continue distancing himself from the race's second favorite.

The end result was a dominating 5 ½-length victory as the crowd of 90,000 onlookers at Belmont Park let out resounding cheers of delight and appreciation for the colt's amazing run at history. Those cheers continued on for several minutes after the race, producing a breathtaking atmosphere.

During a post-race press conference, Baffert spoke about what the win means for the sport of horse racing, saying, per Wolken, "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."

We absolutely saw something great Saturday, and no one was more elated than owner Ahmed Zayat, who began this season just hoping for his first Kentucky Derby win. It's safe to say he received much more than he bargained for.

Pharoah's Triple Crown win will soon make the Zayat family plenty of cold hard cash, as a report from CNN Money noted the colt could bring in as much as $7.5 million annually in stud fees. Considering Pharoah's misspelled name will now be etched in the history books alongside legends such as Secretariat, that exorbitant amount of money is certainly well-deserved.