Belmont Stakes 2015: Results, Takeaways from American Pharoah's Win in New York
Hype became reality Saturday in New York when Bob Baffert's American Pharoah ran another dominant race, this time to claim the Triple Crown and finish second behind only Secretariat in terms of Triple Crown winners' finishing times.
Entering the sport's version of a marathon, folks were well aware this was a well-known path—a hyped contender who breezed through the first two legs of the Triple Crown, such as California Chrome last year, only to fall short in New York.
Not this time.
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American Pharoah's triumph does a lot for many people—and not just the bettors who took the safe route on his odds to the bank.
2015 Belmont Stakes Results and Payouts
| 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 |
| American Pharoah | $3.50 | $2.80 | $2.50 |
| Frosted | --- | $3.50 | $2.90 |
| Keen Ice | --- | --- | $4.60 |
Video Replay
Top Takeaways
Frosted Goes Down in History, Too
As hard as it sounds, ignore American Pharoah for a moment.
Most seemed to agree going into the event Frosted was the horse to take down American Pharoah, if any were to pull off the impressive feat.
The notion made sense, as trainer Kiaran McLaughlin held the colt out of the Preakness after a come-from-behind effort at the Kentucky Derby to finish fourth in a historic field. For a moment, too, it looked like Frosted would put up another serious fight down the stretch, as McLaughlin told the Lexington Herald-Leader:
In most years, the old adage about second place being the first loser would apply and Frosted would fade from memory, overshadowed by the end of a 37-year drought.
Not this year.
Take away American Pharoah, and in most years, Frosted wins the Belmont. TimeFormUS.com provides the staggering numbers:
It's easy to lose sight of the feat put on by Frosted. Rest assured, though, he will continue to be a major name when it comes to breeding, and McLaughlin will continue to be one of the top trainers right with Baffert.
Wire-to-Wire is the Way to Win
Before the race, most would have advised jockey Victor Espinoza to avoid a wire-to-wire strategy.
Sure, it worked in the Preakness Stakes, but the rest of the competition was stuck in the mud—literally—and Espinoza needed to do everything he could to avoid getting pinned on the rail out of the No. 1 post.
In New York, though, it's not advisable to attempt a start-to-finish feat. Just don't tell it to Espinoza, as Matt Spiegel of 670TheScore.com captures:
In a rather fitting turn of events, those horses strong enough to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown tend to lean on the wire-to-wire approach to seal the historic deal.
ESPN Stats & Info illustrates the point:
Go figure, right?
The horses with the stuff necessary to win the first two legs and secure the Triple Crown are the horses with enough in the tank to forget about the rigors of a third race and put on an epic start-to-finish sprint at the longest of the legs.
Of course, that brings up the biggest takeaway of all.
Horse Racing Doesn't Need to Change
For years, one of the biggest talking points about horse racing centered on the idea the Triple Crown presents an unfair challenge in the modern sport.
With the lack of a winner going almost 40 years strong, there were rumblings about putting the races further apart to give contenders more rest.
Time to forget it.
As American Pharoah's triumph shows, it take a rare horse—as it should—to win the Triple Crown. These horses do exist and will continue to do so, meaning there's no reason to make any changes to the format of the legs or the individual races to better the chances another horse wins.
"It was a great day for our industry," McLaughlin said, per Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun. "American Pharoah's a great horse. He did everything everybody thought he could do, and he did it effortlessly."
It's also time to throw out the notion that the lack of a winner diminishes the height of the achievement—it's bogus. A possible once-in-a-lifetime achievement doesn't hurt the prestige of the honor—it ups it.
In the wake of American Pharoah's win, it's hard to imagine much changes. If he can pull it off, so too can the next great horse, whenever he may arrive on the scene.
Stats and information via BelmontStakes.com unless otherwise specified.
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