Belmont Stakes 2013

The winner of the 145th Belmont Stakes is Palace Malice, with Preakness winner Oxbow second, and Kentucky Derby winner Orb third. It was the second Belmont win for jockey Mike Smith.

The time was 2:30.70, way off the unbreakable Secretariat record of 2:24 forty years ago.

Palice Malice is co-owned by Cot Campbell of Dogwood Stable fame. He founded the stable back in 1969. Dogwood Stable was one of the first to have a counterpart to syndicated shares in thoroughbred stallions but the shares are in the winnings for races and these partnerships are involved in purchasing horses. Dogwood Stable owned Summer Squall, who won the Preakness way back in 1990.

Palice Malice was sired by 2007 Preakness winner Curlin, who later won the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic and the 2008 Dubai World Cup.

My television kept cutting out on the dish signal, but my brother's television picked it up. My brother said everything was okay because it was the HD channel, not the standard channel, that was on the fritz.

The race:

Kentucky Derby 2013

The winner is co-favorite Orb, who won on a sloppy track in the time of 2:02.89.

Golden Soul finished second, and co-favorite Revoluntary was third.

It was the first Kentucky Derby win for veteran trainer Shug McGaughey. It was also a big victory for jockey Joel Rosario, who also won March's Dubai World Cup aboard a previous Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom.

Great race, but it was tough going on that track.

Orb is owned by the Janney-Phipps families, families who have owned many winners of many top races over the decades, including Ruffian, Buckpasser, Bold Ruler, and Easy Goer. Today was their first Kentucky Derby win.

Orb was bred by Claiborne Farm of Paris, Kentucky, one of the most famous thoroughbred farms in the world and mentioned on a number of posts on this blog in connection with the legendary Secretariat. Orb's pedigree can be found here.

He is a grandson of the top sire A.P. Indy, and his ancestry includes some of the biggest names in thoroughbred racing history.

More:

All week, McGaughey said he agreed with that philosophy but could not help but hope that eventually a horse would come along who was unquestionably good enough to run the 1 1/4 miles against stiff competition. He felt Orb was that horse.

"Over the winter he just grew into a race horse," he said. "And then he kept doing it. Never really had one setback."

Stuart Janney and Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps are the latest in one of the country's oldest and most successful horse racing operations, which dates back 100 years and includes multiple hall of fame awards but no Derby winners but their share of heartbreak. Phipps sold a mare in foal in 2006, and the resulting colt, Super Saver, won the 2010 Kentucky Derby, also run over a wet track.

To say nothing of his father's famous coin toss with Penny Chenery back in around 1969.

Video (but given how NBC and Universal are about take-down notices on YouTube, this may not be available for long):

Kentucky Derby 2013

Orb is this year's favorite for the 139th running of the first leg of the Triple Crown:

He is more than just a buzz horse, this 7-2 morning-line favorite for the 139th running of the May 4 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Training around Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the 1 1/4-mile Classic, Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable's Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Orb has become the face of Kentucky Derby 139, a contender whose smooth morning gallops and perfect final breeze have more than one trainer wishing they could trade places—or at least runners—with Hall of Fame horseman Shug McGaughey.

"I love the way Orb moves over the ground. He just really, really floats here," said three-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, who won't have a contender in this year's Run for the Roses. "This horse looks the part. He's moving great."

It's probably too much to ask, but I'd like to see a Triple Crown winner this year.

Naturally Sports Illustrated hasn't come out with a commemorative issue marking the 40th anniversary of Secretariat's sweep of the Triple Crown.