Creator Takes The Belmont Stakes In A Photo Finish

He purchased a share in Creator in the days leading to the Belmont merely because he wanted to make sure the family members and friends he annually takes to the race would have a horse to root for.

Saturday’s Belmont has Preakness victor Exaggerator; Derby victor Nyquist isn’t running.

Saturday’s Belmont capped Triple Crown races that were likewise divided.

If you’re looking for close calls in the Belmont Stakes, there’s been a few.

Creator did not even race the Preakness having finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby, but managed to scoop the $1.5million prize in Elmont, New York. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., pointed to the sky in an appropriate winning salute given the horse’s name.

Asmussen will soon be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The all-time record for wagering for a Belmont Stakes ($92.2 million, beating the previous record by $24 million) and the Belmont card ($150.4 million) was set in 2014, when California Chrome was attempting to put an end to the 36-year Triple Crown drought.

Asmussen, 50, owns more than 7,300 career victories to lead all active trainers and rank second all-time, trailing only Dale Baird. He was taken off the Hall of Fame ballot past year because of allegations made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about the way he treated his horses.

All-sources betting on this year’s Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in NY was down 37 percent compared with wagering on the race last year, when interest in the race was buoyed significantly by the popular and ultimately successful bid for a Triple Crown by American Pharoah, according to charts of the races. This was Creators day, a hot, sticky one at Belmont Park with temperatures in the mid-80s.

But Nyquist was held out of the Belmont because of a fever, ruining the chances of a Belmont rubber match between him and Exaggerator, a 7-5 favorite Saturday.

2016 was the year when the Triple Crown was equally divided among three colts, each 3-years-old, representing three different owners, trained by three different trainers and ridden by three different jockeys. Lani, who went off at 12-1, was third.

“I thought Irad gave him a flawless trip”.

Creator started out of the 13 post at 16-1 odds; Destin came out of the 2 post at 8-1.

Destin kicked for home from the final turn and looked like scoring for Todd Pletcher but Irad Ortiz Jr got a fine tune out of Creator to snatch the prize. They had been blasting past horses two at a time and were bounding down the middle of stretch to their upset win. The first three finishers were gray colts.

Governor Malibu was fourth, followed by Stradivari, Brody’s Cause, Cherry Wine, Gettysburg, Suddenbreakingnews, Trojan Nation, Exaggerator, Seeking the Soul and Forever d’Oro. With Ortiz urging him on, Creator stormed into contention after running near the back of the pack and won in the final stride. Jockey Kent Desormeaux sensed that the horse wasn’t into it, and he wasn’t going to beat Exaggerator up for it.

“I just know (Exaggerator) had nothing left”. When I picked him up at the quarter pole to go ahead and try to win the race, there was nothing there.

He broke cleanly and immediately dropped to the rail, then ran his race until the stretch.