On Saturday, June 6, 2015, American Pharoah beat the field at the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, capturing the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
American Pharoah after winning Preakness
American Pharoah led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths Saturday, becoming the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
© 2015 by MarylandGovPics
American Pharoah led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths Saturday, becoming the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes - one of the sporting world's rarest feats.
The bay colt with the unusually short tail defeated seven rivals in the grueling 1½-mile race, leading wire-to-wire and covering the distance in 2 minutes, 26.65 seconds to end the longest stretch without a Triple Crown champion in history.
American Pharoah is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win three races on different tracks at varying distances over a five-week span. He won the Derby by one length May 2, romped to a seven-length victory in the rainy Preakness two weeks later and demolished his rivals Saturday.
He is the fourth Triple Crown winner to go wire-to-wire in the Preakness and the Belmont. His time was the second best in the Belmont by a Triple Crown winner, trailing only Secretariat's 2:24 in 1973, and the sixth fastest ever.
According to The Courier Journal, American Pharoah jockey Victor Espinoza always donates a percentage of his winnings to City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment facility in California. After winning the Belmont Stakes and, with it, the Triple Crown yesterday, however, he was feeling especially generous.
"At the wire I was like, 'I cannot believe I did it,'" Espinoza said. "I (won) the Triple Crown race now, but I didn't make any money, because I donated my money to the City of Hope."
This shows part of the reason it was so easy for so many people to root for Espinoza to be a part of winning the Triple Crown. The horse's owners will also be donating a portion of their winnings to several different parties, including the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.