Belmont Stakes 2017 Results: Times, Payouts for Tapwrit, Top Contenders
Tapwrit earned the largest share of the $1.5 million purse paid out after the 2017 Belmont Stakes. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt finished ahead of Irish War Cry at Belmont Park, New York on Saturday and picked up the $800,000 reward for winning the third race in the Triple Crown.
Irish War Cry earned $280,000 from the main purse. A full breakdown of the purse payouts is available at the Triple Crown official website, with the numbers the same as they were in 2016.
Meanwhile, bettors were rewarded with $12.60 for Tapwrit's win, but it was $6.50 to place and $5.00 to show, according to Kevin Skiver of CBS Sports. He also noted how a bet for Irish War Cry to place paid $4.70, while third-placed Patch rewarded at $6.50 to show.
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In the process of winning the 149th edition of the Belmont Stakes with a time of two minutes, 30.02 seconds, Tapwrit rewarded decorated trainer Pletcher.
He has made a habit of preparing winners for Belmont, per Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form:
Pletcher's latest victory came when Tapwrit and Irish War Cry opened up a half-length lead over the chasing pack late on. It was Tapwrit and jockey Jose Ortiz making a late surge to overtake the favorite Irish War Cry, who was in front but couldn't hold the lead over what proved to be a dramatic final stretch.
Trainer Graham Motion thought Irish War Cry had the win in the bag, per David Grening of the Daily Racing Form:
Motion will understandably be frustrated his horse couldn't win, particularly when the field had been thinned considerably. Always Dreaming, Pletcher's winner at Kentucky, wasn't involved, nor was Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing or Epicharis.
Even after being named the new favorite, Irish War Cry still couldn't win.
Coming in third was at least a creditable showing from Patch. It represented a major improvement on the 14th-place finish the one-eyed colt managed at this year's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
However, the main headlines from Belmont naturally belong to Tapwrit, who won the final leg of the Triple Crown in some style.
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