Belmont Stakes 2015: Race Replay, Highlights, Triple Crown Analysis, Prize Money

The last 37 years of Triple Crown disappointment had tempered the expectations of millions watching at home and 90,000 in attendance, but American Pharoah gave everyone a reason to believe. He won the 2015 Belmont Stakes Saturday to become the sport's first Triple Crown winner in nearly four decades.

The newest member of horse racing's most exclusive club more than earned his way in, posting an incredible wire-to-wire victory and moving more than five lengths in front by the time it was all said and done. His blistering time of two minutes, 26.65 seconds was the sixth fastest in Belmont history, and the second-fastest Triple Crown time behind Secretariat. 

Frosted rallied down the stretch to give AP his only challenge, but it was short-lived. He finished in second while Keen Ice and Mubtaahij rounded out the superfecta in third and fourth, respectively, but none of them came close to matching the living legend.

Everything you need to relive the madness at Belmont is below, from highlights to the finishing order and a rundown of what took place.

2015 Belmont Stakes Finishing Order and Purse Money

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Time/Lengths	Winnings
1	5	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	2:26.65	$800,000
2	6	Frosted	Joel Rosario	5 1/2	$280,000
3	7	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	7 1/2	$150,000
4	1	Mubtaahij	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	7 3/4	$100,000
5	4	Frammento	Mike Smith	16 1/4	$60,000
6	3	Madefromlucky	Javier Castellano	18 3/4	$45,000
7	2	Tale of Verve	Gary Stevens	21 1/2	$35,000
8	8	Materiality	John Velazquez	23 1/4	$30,000

Race Replay

Nobody under the age of 37 watching the 147th running at Belmont could quite appreciate the history that was at stake Saturday. Or perhaps, nobody but them could quite appreciate it.

Five presidents and three wars have separated America from its last Triple Crown triumph, when Affirmed last did so in 1978. Unquestionably more alarming were the 13 failed attempts at history in that span, with 12 of them—everyone but I'll Have Another, who was scratched on the eve of the 2012 Belmont with tendinitis—falling short on the 1 ½-mile track.

American Pharoah proved he wouldn't follow in their footsteps, and he did so very early on.

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

He didn't have the cleanest break out of the gates, but jockey Victor Espinoza recovered his prized colt quickly to gain the outright lead to start the race. He took the opening quarter mile in a brisk time of 24.06 seconds, which gave him the energy needed later on in the race.

That extra oomph proved crucial, with Frosted and Mubtaahij bearing down on him as the horses came around the third run. But when the final turn came around, American Pharoah remained in front, beginning to extend his lead as they came barreling down the stretch.

Frosted moved to within two lengths of Pharoah in the final furlong, but that's as close as anyone would get. He then separated from the field even more, having the extra legs that fresher horses were supposed to have instead of him.

Even Frosted's trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, saw a glimmer of opportunity for his horse before things unraveled, as the Lexington Herald-Leader noted:

In fact, Frosted ran so well that it would have been more than enough to usurp some of the Triple Crown contenders of the last several years. As noted by TimeFormUS.com, he would have beaten the last six Belmont winners:

But while Frosted may have run well enough to win the Belmont in regular circumstances, Saturday was not such an occasion. 

Instead, Saturday proved to be a history-making occurrence. That wasn't the case for just American Pharoah and the sport of horse racing but also for trainer Bob Baffert. After coming up short in his last three attempts at horse racing greatness, he finally broke through, as ESPN Stats & Info observed:

The victory also proved transcendent for Espinoza, who came up short in 2002 and 2014 on Triple Crown hopefuls. He won his first Belmont and his first Triple Crown by virtue of Saturday's victory but still opted to donate his winnings to charity, as ESPN's Darren Rovell noted:

It was undoubtedly a vindicating win for Espinoza and Baffert, who have been in this position before only to finish in heartbreak. But thanks to a special horse that proved superior from the others over the last four decades, they finally broke through.

The difficulty of the Triple Crown has never been more apparent, as the 1 ½-mile marathon and the rigors of facing fresher, top-notch horses has dethroned so many worthy contenders over the years. Many wondered if the feat would ever be done. 

Well, American Pharoah answered those doubts in one of the most dominant runs the sport has ever seen. Now, it will be up to this year's crop of two-year-olds to keep it going and start another streak—one of consecutive Triple Crown winners.