American Pharoah made history on Saturday, winning the 2015 Belmont Stakes to become just the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. American Pharoah entered the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes as the heavy favorite and was able to outrun the 8-horse field to secure a place in history.
American Pharoah started from the No. 5 gate and was able to break clean and get off to a good start, immediately jumping into the lead. Conditions for the race were near perfect and American Pharoah took advantage. The early pace was relatively moderate, allowing American Pharoah to stay in front with ease. He remained in the lead into the far turn and coming down the back stretch. That's when he made another strong charge to distance himself from the field in the stretch to complete the Triple Crown.
Several horses have claimed the first two legs of the Triple Crown in recent years, but were unable to come away with victories at Belmont. The longer 1½-mile track proved to be no obstacle for American Pharoah, who became the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown. He did benefit from the smaller field, but still earned the victory with an impressive run. Jockey Victor Espinoza can now add a Triple Crown to his resume after previously coming up just shy of the feat.
With the win, American Pharoah was able to do something 13 horses since 1978 weren't able to accomplish. Those horses won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes but fell short in the Belmont Stakes. That list includes a few recent notable horses, including California Chrome, who last season was unable to make a final charge and finished fourth. Big Brown and I'll Have Another are among the other recent contenders to just miss winning the Triple Crown.
Comments
Magnificent win..
By incady on 06.06.15 7:23pm
Amazing!!
He wasn’t even challenged!
By bdawk4ever on 06.06.15 7:25pm
He Did It!
Congrats to American Pharoah, Bob Baffert and Victor Espinoza.
Saw all three Triple Crown winners in the 70s, never thought I’d see another in my lifetime.
What a Champion.
By MetsFan4Decades on 06.06.15 7:30pm
I don’t watch horse racing, but I played this 4 times just now because the announcer is so damn excited. I got happy hearing how happy he was. I love this video.
By DMarie2101 on 06.06.15 8:00pm
He got hype but maintains some dignity lol
By BigSwoll on 06.06.15 8:33pm
Third biggest margin of victory in the Belmont. Only Count Fleet at 25 lengths and Secretariat at 31 were more dominant.
By Spaniel of the Baskervilles on 06.06.15 8:09pm
Dang. That Secretariat!
By BigSwoll on 06.06.15 8:34pm
Triple Crown
i watched Secretariat win the Triple Crown And i watched the battle between Affirmed and Alydar, those were awesome horses, so sad what happened to Alydar, guess all the money he made for his owners wasn’t enough.
By martinp06 on 06.07.15 2:29am
Yeah that a sad story with Alydar.
Big fan of his boy Alysheba back in ‘87-’88 too.
By Brandon Day on 06.07.15 3:07am
That was just pathetic what happened there. He had made them plenty at stud.
By Spaniel of the Baskervilles on 06.07.15 8:33am
Alydar
The owner should have had the same thing done to him that was done to Alydar. Four years in prison is what a bank robber would get. I’m surprised he didnt have an ‘accident’. Well, he is/was welcome in my dungeon any time.
By Debbarfield on 06.07.15 7:24pm
Correction it was the 4th largest. Citation won by 8 lengths in 1948.
By Spaniel of the Baskervilles on 06.07.15 4:17pm
OH MAN!!!!
I CALLED THIS!!!!!!!
I CALLED IT RIGHT HERE ON THE SBNATION RACETRACK BLOG!!!!!!!!!!
By BigSwoll on 06.06.15 8:28pm
I will be in a glowing state about this for awhile
By LAEagle on 06.06.15 9:04pm
Great to see a moment in history
I’m not an avid horse racing fan, but I’ve watched the Triple Crown since I was a kid reading Walter Farley books. What a great thing to witness.
By rebelmark on 06.06.15 9:18pm
Yep, the Walter Farley books hooked me into it too, years ago.
By Brandon Day on 06.07.15 3:08am
It's Sunday morning and I am still so cheesed about this
That was AMAZING. At 30 years old, I can say I’ve never seen anything like that before.
Been waiting and watching my whole life to see that.
By myjah on 06.07.15 9:00am
Excellent
Excellent Sports…
By downahar on 06.07.15 9:36am
Wow, No East Coast West Coast Bias...
…maybe this sport stands a chance after all!
By mongo71 on 06.07.15 11:03am
Twitter Reacts...with F Words
Twitter reacts to American Pharoah’s victory at the Belmont Stakes and capture of the first Triple Crown since 1978…and they react with a lot of F Words. Watch Now…
http://www.ridethepine.com/episodes/american-pharoah-triple-crown-twitter-reaction/
By RTPSports on 06.08.15 9:36am