Belmont Stakes Results 2016: Video Replay of Creator's Race at Belmont

By the slimmest of margins, Creator won the 2016 Belmont Stakes. 

The race officials needed to go to the tape to determine whether Creator or Destin crossed the finish line first. NBCSN showed how little separated the two horses at the end:

Creator last ran in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 13th. According to ESPN Stats & Info, that's the third-worst result ever for an eventual Belmont winner:

Place	Horse	Lengths Behind	Earnings
1	Creator	-	$800,000
2	Destin	Nose	$280,000
3	Lani	1.75	$150,000
4	Governor Malibu	4.5	$100,000
5	Stradivari	6.75	$60,000
6	Brody's Cause	7.5	$45,000
7	Cherry Wine	8.5	$35,000
8	Gettysburg	9.5	$30,000
9	Suddenbreakingnews	10	-
10	Trojan Nation	11.75	-
11	Exaggerator	14.75	-
12	Seeking the Soul	16.5	-
13	Forever D'Oro	18	-

Belmont is the longest of the three Triple Crown races, which resulted in a somewhat slow pace at the start.

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. did a great job of timing Creator's surge at just the right moment. He and Creator were well back of early leader Gettysburg for most of the race.

After hitting the one-mile mark, Ortiz started his move. Slowly but surely he and Creator began closing the gap between themselves and the leaders. Ortiz also did well to ensure he had a window to pass Gettysburg and Destin. Governor Malibu looked like he could potentially jump into first, but he was too close to the rail. Once he couldn't get past Gettysburg, his moment had already passed.

Ortiz, on the other hand, capitalized on his opportunity and turned the race into a head-to-head sprint between Creator and Destin.

Destin, who had been in second for most of the race, didn't have enough left to hold off his on-rushing competitor. CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli couldn't miss the chance to use a good pun:

"

I guess it just wasn’t that horse’s Destin-y.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 11, 2016"

120 Sports' Tim Doyle noted how great Ortiz's Saturday was:

Exaggerator entered as the heavy favorite but was a massive disappointment in New York. Fans were expecting the Preakness Stakes winner to turn on the jets at some point down the final stretch, but he didn't look to have anything left after having run in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

"I said, 'Show me your stuff,' and there was nothing there," said jockey Kent Desormeaux, per Philly.com's Dick Jerardi.

With the Belmont Stakes now in the past, the focus will shift to the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5.

Exaggerator trainer J. Keith Desormeaux might be looking at Santa Anita Park as a shot at redemption after the colt's poor result Saturday. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist might also be in the mix after missing out on the Belmont Stakes for health reasons.

Creator entered the mix as well based on his victory at Belmont Park.