June 6, 2015 - American Pharoah wins the 147th Belmont Stakes and becomes one of only 12 horses to achieve the Triple Crown, and the first since 1978.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Tapwrit overtook favorite Irish War Cry deep in the stretch to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Elmont, N.Y. Tapwrit, with Jose Ortiz aboard, ran down Irish War Cry to win by two lengths in the 149th running of the third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown.
The first four finishers all followed a well-worn path: run in the Derby, skip the Preakness and come back fresh for the Belmont.
Chad Brown, Javier Castello and Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence earned top honors in the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Championship presented by NYRA Bets for best overall performance by a trainer, jockey and owner, respectively, during the three-day event at Belmont Park. We were just hoping he had enough in the tank when it came to the crunch.
Tapwrit finished sixth in the 20-horse Derby after encountering traffic in what Pletcher described as "a sneaky good" race. His brother, Irad, won the race previous year with Creator.
A relaxed and happy Todd Pletcher reported Sunday morning that Tapwrit, commanding victor of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, and third-place finisher Patch exited their efforts in Saturday's 1 ½-mile race in "excellent shape".
Pletcher took two of the year's three Triple Crown races, having saddled Always Dreaming to victory in the Derby. I always liked him and we always had a lot of faith in him.
"I was really pleased with their energy level", the trainer said.
The one-eyed Patch (12/1) finished a distant third in the 11-horse field at Belmont Park.
Trump Expected In Miami Friday - But Big Changes To Cuba Policy Aren't
Last week, Rubio was one of a handful of GOP lawmakers invited to the White House for dinner with the President. In response to the Obama opening, he said, the Cuban government, "intensified repressive measures".
Irish War Cry, who pressed the early pace at Churchill Downs on May 6 and ran 10th in the Derby, nearly went wire-to-wire in the Belmont with jockey Rajiv Maragh in the irons.
"It's our home base, so it's always an advantage", Pletcher acknowledged.
Secretariat set a world record at the race that still stands for the mile and a half distance on a dirt track at 2:24.
The Todd Pletcher-trained, Tapwrit, went off at 5-1.
"It actually wasn't our plan to be on the lead", said Graham Motion, who trains Irish War Cry. The positioning stayed the same until the final turn, when Tapwrit turned it on.
"At the eighth pole, I thought was might be home free", Motion said, "but it's the Belmont. It's a tough race".
Cloud Computing, Classic Empire, Senior Investment, and, Lookin at Lee, was the final order of play.
Hollywood Handsome was pulled up after clipping heels with the horse in front of him, causing jockey Florent Geroux to lose his stirrups in the first turn.
Comments