“Be patient,” Pletcher said. “I think you have the best last quarter of any horse in the race.” Sometimes, Mo is less. Mo Donegal cleared the home side and held the full Nest to win the Belmont Stakes, giving Pletcher a 1-2 goal and Triple Crown’s sixth win, including four on that track on the outskirts of New York. “To be honest with you, we were a little confident we were going to race today,” said Donegal Racing CEO and co-owner Jerry Crawford. “When he got home, I wanted to forget about it. I know Todd thought he could do a strong last quarter mile, and he certainly did.” Rich Strike, a stunning winner in the Kentucky Derby with an 80-to-1 chance, was sixth. Mo Donegal rounded the 1-mile distance in 2 minutes, 28.28 seconds, three lengths in front of Nest – led by Ortiz’s brother Jose. Pletcher, who lives in Long Island, adds another title to Belmond after winning Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017. Mo Donegal won a race with eight horses without a clear favorite. We humans, a great runner in the mud, opened at 2 to 1 in the middle of a rainy forecast, but reached 7 to 2 at the time of the race as the rain had stopped. Mo Donegal entered the gate the favorite in the bet with 5 to 2. We People were ahead for a large part of the race, but Mo Donegal and Ortiz took the responsibility coming out of the final turn. The 3-year-old foal paid $ 7.20, $ 3.80 and $ 3. Nest – who almost became Pletcher’s second friend to beat Belmont after Rags to Riches – paid $ 5.30 and $ 4.10. Skippylongstocking was third and returned $ 5.60 to appear. We humans finished fourth. Rich Striker owner Rick Dawson and trainer Eric Reed kept the Kentucky Derby winner out of the Preakness by staring at Belmont, the first healthy horse to reject the Pimlico after winning his first Triple Crown race since 1985. Reed said the team encouraged rider Sonny Leon to try to push Rich Strike from the outside, but the horse kept trying to get back in – where he made a delayed over 19 hp win to win the Churchill Downs. Rich Strike spent much of Saturday’s race in last place and could not recover. “I think we just made a tactical mistake,” Reed said. Just like Rich Strike, Mo Donegal was in the back of the Derby team, but the foal did not have enough kicks in the Churchill Downs. He found it on Saturday, winning the 154th run of the $ 1.5 million race. Mo Donegal beat co-owner Mike Repole, a local businessman known around the track as “Mike from Queens”. Repole is also a co-owner of Nest. “This is the biggest fight in New York and to win it here, with my family and friends and 70 people here, it will be a big win-win round,” he said. This is the fourth consecutive year that Triple Crown races have won three different horses, one for the sport from 1926 to 1929. The match marked a return to Belmont’s own form, as the 2020 Stakes were closed to the public due to the pandemic and the 2021 event was limited to 11,238 spectators due to virus restrictions. Capacity was reduced again, this time to 50,000, due to traffic congestion concerns coming from the newly built arena next to the NHL New Yorkers. However, fans huddled in cars on Long Island Rail Road and breathed new life into the 117-year-old track with floral hats, pastel costumes and the undisputed drink and cigar calf. The reported turnout of 46,103 was well below the record of 120,139 set in 2004. Not surprisingly, given the volatile weather forecast and the lack of a Triple Crown nominee. The pitch was also sparse. No horse ran all three legs of the Triple Crown this year, raising concerns that three races in five weeks could be too tight a program to keep horses healthy. The winner of the Preakness Early Voting was sidelined, most likely to prepare for the $ 1.25 million Travers Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course on August 27th. Epicenter, second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, also failed. In the $ 500,000 Acorn for 3-year-old girlfriends, Matareya reached the 6¼ length victory. The beloved Echo Zulu was scratched in the post on the advice of the track veterinarian. Trained by Brad Cox and rider by Flavien Prat, Matareya ($ 2.60) ran the mile in 1: 35.77, winning for the fifth time in eight career starts. The much-favored Flightline took a step back, overcame an early traffic problem and reached a six-million-dollar victory at the $ 1 million Hill ‘N’ Dale metropolitan mile. The victory kept the 4-year-old Tapit foal undefeated in four career starts. She was the first to not win in double digits. The Flightline ($ 2.90) was also driven by Prat and trained by John Sadler.
