Justify becomes 13th Triple Crown champ after winning Belmont Stakes
ELMONT, NY - JUNE 09: Justify #1, ridden by jockey Mike Smith leads the field to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes. Justify becomes the 13 Triple Crown winner. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP) - Justify led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 1¾ lengths and become horse racing's 13th Triple Crown champion and second in four years.
The chestnut colt is the second undefeated colt to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, improving to 6-0 in a racing career that began on Feb. 18. Seattle Slew was unbeaten when he won the Triple Crown in 1977.
Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, Justify went to the lead out of the starting gate and led nine rivals around the track's sweeping turns on Saturday. He's the first Triple Crown winner to face that many rivals in the 1½-mile Belmont.
Bob Baffert became the second trainer to win the Triple Crown twice. He did so with American Pharoah in 2015, ending a 37-year drought.
At 52, Mike Smith is the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown.
Previous Triple Crown winners are:
2015 - American Pharoah (Victor Espinoza)
1978 - Affirmed (Steve Cauthen)
1977 - Seattle Slew (Jean Cruguet)
1973 - Secretariat (Ron Turcotte)
1948 - Citation (Eddie Arcaro)
1946 - Assault (Warren Mehrtens)
1943 - Count Fleet (John Longden)
1941 - Whirlaway (Eddie Arcaro)
1937 - War Admiral (Charles Kurtsinger)
1935 - Omaha (William Saunders)
1930 - Gallant Fox (Earl Sande)
1919 - Sir Barton (John Loftus)
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