Belmont Stakes 2012 (Updated)

The winner of the 144th Belmont Stakes is Union Rags, closing in on the rail to beat Paynter in a dramatic finish. The time was 2:30.42. Union Rags was one of the favorites for the race just as he was one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby but had traffic problems in that contest. Favorites have not done well in the Belmont in recent years.

Atigun was third and Street Life was fourth. Exciting race.

Bob Baffert had some heartbreak as he trained Paynter. He was the same trainer for Bodemeister, who placed second to I'll Have Another in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. In other words, Baffert did an Alydar by coming in second in all three Triple Crown races this year.

The race, called by Tom Durkin, from the NYRA YouTube site:



The retirement ceremony of I'll Have Another can be viewed here. His handlers decided against having him in the post parade for fear the horse would be confused and think he was going to run in the race.

Owner Phyllis Wyeth has an interesting background:

Five decades ago, Phyllis Wyeth suffered a broken neck in a head-on car collision on her way to work at the White House after a morning ride on her horse. For years, she walked with the aid of crutches. More recently, she uses a motorized scooter, rarely slowing down.

"I should have broken my neck riding 3 1/2-mile steeplechases," Wyeth said, explaining how as a 20-year-old in 1962 she had ridden a jumper, changed clothes, and jumped in her car. "Driving down to Washington, I was hit . . . straight on. It wasn't my fault."

Horses have been part of her life as far back as she can remember.

"She rode before she could walk," Jamie Wyeth said. "She wasn't just a country girl who went out riding. She mucked out the stalls, she was a 4-H member. She had a steer that she entered in competitions."

"I was the only girl in the 4-H club," Phyllis Wyeth said.

She worked in the Kennedy administration despite being from a family of Republicans. She is also related to the duPont family. Moreover, her family owned racehorses Devil's Bag and Gone West. Her husband, painter Jamie Wyeth, is the son of the celebrated painter Andrew Wyeth.





Earlier:

In the anti-climatic ending to the Triple Crown season, Union Rags is now the early Belmont favorite.

As the entire world knows, Kentucky Derby-Preakness winner I'll Have Another injured himself a couple of days ago and has been retired from racing.