“He was calm, and I just waited for somewhere to go”, said Ortiz Jr., one of the nation’s leading jockeys who won his first Triple Crown race. “Today was flawless for us by inches”, Asmussen said.
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“When I picked him up at the quarter pole to try and win the race, there was nothing there”, Kent Desormeaux said. Japan’s Lani finished third. I thought Irad gave him a ideal trip. “He won it by inches and he saved feet”. “He made the difference”.
Instead, an underdog owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay stole the show.
As the prospect of a second straight Triple Crown victor slipped away on a muddy track outside Baltimore in May, the enormity of what American Pharoah was able to accomplish began to come into perspective.
This time, however, Asmussen turned the tables: runner-up Destin represented Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Rags To Riches. The time was 1:35.81 for the mile.
Elliott Walden, who runs WinStar Farm for owner Kenny Troutt, was not thrilled with the lack of early speed in the Belmont so he transferred Gettysburg from superstar trainer Todd Pletcher to superstar trainer Steve Asmussen and entered Gettysburg in the Belmont for the sole objective of setting the pace and hopefully setting it up for Creator’s late run. Gettysburg, at 55-1, did his job, setting the pace before tiring in the stretch to finish eighth.
It was the fourth nose finish in the history of the race. Creator had just enough burst to take home the victory in the 13-horse field. He earned his owners $800,000, the winner’s share of the 1.5 million dollar purse, for his Belmont Stakes win. His career earnings skyrocketed to $1,568,320.
All eyes in the North American racing world were focused on Elmont, New York Friday and Saturday so it is only fitting that Irad Ortiz, Jr., who scored an upset victory aboard Creator in the Belmont Stakes, was unanimously voted the Jockeys’ Guild Jockey of the Week for June 6th – June 12th.
“The confidence we had going into the Derby, we wanted to be sure we had that going again”, Asmussen noted. They don’t put you behind the gates; they line you up even and give you a chance to prove yourself.
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By the numbers, Cathryn Sophia’s third in Saturday’s Acorn Stakes was identical to her win in the Kentucky Oaks with a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.
