Belmont Stakes 2015 Results: Reliving American Pharoah's Triumph on Race Replay

Decades of disappointment made way for one of horse racing's biggest moments ever. One horse finally lived up to the hype, as American Pharoah ran into the history books by winning Saturday's 2015 Belmont Stakes—securing the first Triple Crown in 37 years.

The newest member of horse racing's most exclusive club never trailed in his quest to complete a legendary run, posting a wire-to-wire win that got more lopsided as the race wore along. The treacherous 1 1/2 miles and seven fresher horses were supposed to hurt Pharoah down the stretch—it instead played no part, as he proved his superiority with each and every gallop.

Hopes of an entire sport rested on the colt as he attempted something that 13 horses had failed at since it was last done by Affirmed in 1978. As for the millions watching who doubted that it would ever be done again after years of failure and disappointment, they were proven wrong in a dominating display.

His blistering time of 2:26.65 marked the sixth-fastest in Belmont history, according to the Courier-Journal's Jonathan Lintner. The only Triple Crown winner with a faster time was Secretariat. Needless to say, it was a race worth watching, rewatching and rewatching again, which you can do below:

American Pharoah's resounding victory overshadowed strong runs from a few horses behind him. Frosted lived up to his billing as the second favorite and pushed AP early down the stretch, finishing a well-earned second. Keen Ice closed strong to finish third, and Mubtaahij rounded out the superfecta in fourth.

However, none of them finished within five lengths—or more than 40 feet—of the Triple Crown winner:

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

Rob Carr/Getty Images

So, how exactly did American Pharoah get it done after so many years of failures?

Well, jockey Victor Espinoza and trainer Bob Baffert opted to take a similar approach that each of them had in prior Triple Crown shortcomings. Espinoza had failed twice and Baffert three times on the cusp of the Triple Crown prior to Saturday, but that didn't stop them from choosing to push Pharoah out of the gates and into the early lead.

This time around, they had the horse to do it, however.

He didn't break clean to start the race, but he quickly made up for it within a few strides to set the early pace. Mubtaahij from the inside and Frosted from the outside challenged him, but it didn't prevent AP from taking a comfortable one-length lead throughout the opening turn.

As told by Jason Whitely of WFAA Dallas, Espinoza said afterward that he knew at that point it was over:

Perhaps the only horses who seemed to object to that were Frosted and Mubtaahij, who remained near the leader and didn't easily budge from his tail coming around the final turn. Although American Pharoah breezed into a two-length lead to open the stretch run, Frosted remained nearby and running at a similarly brutish pace. 

But once Pharoah kicked it into gear, there proved to be no catching him. And when that time came, even those competing against him couldn't help but cheer on the greatness, as Frosted's trainer told Scott Hazelton of HRTV:

No matter what Frosted, Mubtaahij, Keen Ice or any of the other horses tried, however, it didn't really matter. American Pharoah ran his race and showed no signs of fatigue, both of which couldn't happen if the Triple Crown drought was to continue.

Alas, American Pharoah finally accomplished what California Chrome, I'll Have Another and so many others have looked poised to do over a stretch of recent history. From a well-documented rant by California Chrome's owner about the nature of the Triple Crown (horses being able to rest in between legs) to doubts up until the day of the race, so many narratives were proven wrong in the span of just over two minutes on a beautiful afternoon in Elmont, New York.

It remains to be seen where things go from here. The long-awaited breakthrough could draw more casual fans into the sport, and it will almost certainly prevent any sort of sweeping changes to the Triple Crown format. But there's no doubt that it will take another special horse to repeat what American Pharoah just accomplished over the span of five weeks.