Union Rags Cleans Up Paynter, Wins Belmont Stakes

For the third time in five weeks, a Bob Baffert trained colt attempted to go gate-to-wire in a Triple Crown race. And for the third time in five weeks, that colt was passed in the final 100 yards, settling for an agonizing second place finish.

Like his stablemate Bodemeister, Paynter went right to the lead of the last jewel of the Triple Crown, setting solid fractions through the opening half mile. Jockey Mike Smith, much like he was able to do with Bodemeister in the Preakness, slowed down Paynter in the middle parts of the race and looked like he was riding a winner at the top of the stretch.

The 2012 Belmont Stakes featured a spectacular finish with Union Rags snatching victory from Paynter at the line, and it looked oddly familiar. Paynter didn’t race in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, while Union Rags took the Preakness Stakes off after finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby. I’ll Have Another, the winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, was absent on Saturday. That didn’t keep the Belmont from looking a heck of a lot like the Derby and the Preakness.

For the third straight Triple Crown race, a Bob Baffert horse was led to the front of the race by jockey Mike Smith. For the third straight Triple Crown race, the horse didn’t have enough speed at the very end and was overtaken at the line.

I’ll Have Another looked poised to make a run at the Triple Crown at the 2012 Belmont Stakes, and leave broadcaster NBC with an unequivocal ratings victory. Instead, I’ll Have Another was scratched, leaving the field without both the winner of the 2012 Kentucky Derby and the 2012 Preakness Stakes, as well as Bodemeister, who finished second in both of those races.

And yet, people still tuned in to NBC en masse to see Union Rags win, giving the Belmont Stakes its best rating for a non-Triple Crown bid since 2005. The event pulled a 5.4 overnight rating and a 13 share, 13 percent better than the ratings for the 2011 Belmont Stakes, and 74 percent better than the ratings for the 2010 Belmont Stakes on ABC.

He was considered one of the best two-year-old colts in the country. He finished second to Hansen in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after racing wide almost the entire way around the track. He debuted as a three-year-old in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and rolled to a victory under Julien Leparoux. Then, everything starting going wrong for Union Rags.

The son of Dixie Union, the winter book favorite for the Kentucky Derby, made his final pre-Derby prep in the Florida Derby and encountered a disastrous trip all the way around the track. A month later at Churchill Downs, another bad trip that left Union Rags without a chance to make any meaningful impact. Then he came to Belmont.

Bob Costas was waiting patiently to interview Belmont winner Union Rags’ owner and trainer while another reporter was ready to throw it to him, then chaos broke out. There were so many cameras to choose from, and Bob Costas couldn’t decide. The veteran TV man, microphone always at the ready, lost his cool.

If Bob Costas was analyzing this back in the studio, he’d likely blow it out of proportion, so we’re going to do the same. This is undoubtedly the worst blowup by a broadcaster in Belmont Winners’ Circle history. Video after the jump.

Union Rags got up in the final furlongs to win the 2012 Belmont Stakes over Paynter. With the scratch of I’ll Have Another, the odds for the Belmont were much more even leading to good payouts in all wagers at Belmont Park.

Below are the payouts for the 2012 Belmont Stakes.

I’ll Have Another’s scratch took a bit of the luster off the 2012 Belmont Stakes but, with a strong field of horses and close betting lines, the race still had plenty of intrigue. Union Rags and Dullahan entered the race as favorites, with Paynter close behind.

Paynter got off to a fast start and led the pack through the first quarter of a mile, with Union Rags and Dullahan both sitting comfortably in the middle after solid starts out of the gate. Paynter continued to lead all the way into the final stretch, with Union Rags coming up on the inside. It looked like Paynter was going to hold on until all but about 100 yards remained, when Union Rags surged past, winning at the line by a nose. Atigun finished in third.

Video: Watch Union Rags win the Belmont.

With I’ll Have Another out of the Belmont Stakes, retired after suffering a surprising tendon injury, the scene at Belmont Park was more subdued than expected, a product of another year without a Triple Crown. The shocking scratch turned a weekend full of promise and intrigue into, well, just another race in some regards. But it’s still the Belmont, and still the toughest test in horse racing.

Since I’ll Have Another’s scratch, Dullahan has been going off as the favorite consistently. Just minutes before post time, however, Union Rags has caught up. Both horses are at 5/2 odds, dead even, as more and more bettors have decided to go with trainer Michael Matz’s Union Rags, He will be mounted by jockey John Velazquez, who has had a good day so far at Aqueduct. It’s Velazquez’s first time racing Union Rags, but he won the 2007 Belmont atop Rags-to-Riches despite having never ridden him before.

Here are the complete odds just after 6 p.m.:

Edit: Union Rags wins the Belmont Stakes.

In the final race before the Belmont Stakes, the Manhattan handicap, Desert Blanc won a spectacular photo finish over Papaw Bodie. It was jockey Ramon Dominguez’s third win of the day, so bettors hoping to ride the hot hand will want to wage on My Adonis, Dominguez’s mount in the Belmont.

Two more undercards before the Belmont Stakes at Aqueduct have concluded, the Longines Just A Game Stakes and the Woody Stephens stakes, taken home by Tapitsfly and Trinniberg, respectively. Tapitsfly was ridden by Ramon Dominguez and Trinniberg by Willie Martinez, who was on Giant Ryan earlier Saturday when he went down with a fractured ankle. Neither jockey has a mount in the Belmont Stakes.

Javier Castellano and John R. Velazquez finished second and third to Tapitsfly. Castellano will ride Dullahan in the Belmont and Velazquez will ride Union Rags, two of the horses with the best odds to win the big race. Both jockeys will race again before the Belmont, but they’re clearly locked in right now.

Caixa Electronica, at 4/1 odds, took home the six-furlong True North Handicap, the seventh race of the day in the buildup to the Belmont Stakes. He ran it in less than a minute and ten seconds, but that wasn’t the story of the race. That unfortunate distinction belonged to Giant Ryan, the No. 6 horse owned by Shivananda Racing, which fractured a bone in his left ankle and suffered ligament damage just before the finish line. From USA Today:

Giant Ryan was put in a cast, and his future health is still up in the air.

The countdown to the 2012 Belmont Stakes continues. Saturday’s undercard for the famous race is well underway, with a full 13 races scheduled at the track. Two more races are in the books, including the first race in the Pick 6. The Pick 6 involves bettors picking the winners of six consecutive races, from Race 6 to Race 11. If enough long shots come in, the payout could stand to be six or even seven figures for a winner.

In Race 5, Mia Poppy, a 10/1 bet, took first place in a one-mile run on the turf. Anaphylaxis placed and Carbon County showed. Adirondack Dancer, the 2/1 favorite, was an also ran but was fourth in the superfecta.

Before the main event gets underway at the 2012 Belmont Stakes in New York, there’s a full undercard of horse racing. 13 races are on the docket Saturday prior to the third leg of the Triple Crown, and the first four on the undercard are already in the books.

In the first race of the day, 5/2 favorite I Dreamt I Was won, Market Princess placed and Irish horse Wet One came in third.

More: Latest Belmont odds are here.

The scratch of Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another leaves a big hole in the betting for the 2012 Belmont Stakes. Dullahan is your new morning line favorite at odds of 9/5, with Union Rags and Paynter the second and third choice on the board.

With horse racing’s fabled Triple Crown off the table, Belmont Stakes entrants Dullahan, Union Rags, and Paynter decide to cheer up the injured I’ll Have Another by taking him out on the town for an unforgettable day in New York City.

It’s just as weird as it sounds.

I’ll Have Another won’t be running in the 2012 Belmont Stakes, having been scratched due to injury. That will make the Belmont a little less exciting, given how good a chance I’ll Have Another seemed to have to win the first Triple Crown in 34 years. But it may not make the race less dramatic, as SB Nation’s YouTube channel explains in a behind-the-scenes look at the Belmont.

“You don’t want to miss something like this,” says Bill Turner, trainer of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, “because they don’t come around very often.” He’s talking about Triple Crown bids, but he knows full well how tough the Belmont — which John Sabini, chairman of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, notes “has been known as the ‘graveyard of champions’ for a reason” — really is: Seattle Slew became the first horse ever to finish the Triple Crown without ever previously suffering a loss in 1977.

The stunning news this Friday that I’ll Have Another would not complete his Triple Crown run at the 2012 Belmont Stakes was not the only shock of the day to the world of thoroughbred racing: I’ll Have Another’s racing career is over, as he will be retired due to an injury sustained in a Friday practice.

I’ll Have Another took the 2012 Kentucky Derby and stormed down the stretch to overtake Bodemeister and win the 2012 Preakness Stakes, setting up the first chance a horse would have had since Big Brown in 2008 to win the Triple Crown at the Belmont. But a tendon injury reportedly suffered in a morning practice led to the horse being scratched from the race, meaning that I’ll Have Another will not join the ranks of Triple Crown winners.

Horse: My Adonis

Trainer: Kelly Breen

Pedigree: By Pleasantly Perfect out of an Elusive Quality mare (Silent Justice)

Career Record: 10-2-4-2

Career Earnigns: $316,000

Notable Races: G1-Wood Memorial (7^th); G3-Gotham (2^nd); G3-Holy Bull (3^rd); G3-Delta Downs Jackpot (9^th)

Can He Win The Belmont Stakes?

I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill called into “The Dan Patrick Show” on Friday to confirm the famous horse would be pulling out of Saturday’s 2012 Belmont Stakes due to a leg injury. This ensures there will be no Triple Crown winner in 2012.

CSN Chicago supplied a video of the Dan Patrick Show segment on which O’Neill appeared to announce the decision. O’Neill tried to break up the moment with levity, as you can see in the video below.

A tendon injury is typically not life-threatening, but it is a serious injury and the recovery time can be a minimum of three months or longer. Additionally, due to the importance of the legs of a horse, and the fact that re-injury to a tendon is difficult to correct, top class horses are generally retired even after they have recovered from the initial injury.

A greater explanation of the importance of a horse’s tendon is detailed at the website For The Love of The Horse:

Horse: Paynter

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Pedigree: By Awesome Again out of a Cee’s Tizzy mare (Tizso)

Career Record: 4-2-1-0

Career Earnings: $152,224

Notable Races: G1-Santa Anita Derby (4^th); G3-Derby Trial (2^nd)

Can He Win The Belmont Stakes?

It appears that the world will be without a Triple Crown winner for yet another year, but in an extremely disappointing way. I’ll Have Another, the winner of the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, has officially been scratched from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, according to trainer Doug O’Neill.

In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday, O’Neill confirmed that I’ll Have Another has indeed been scratched. O’Neill said, “We ain’t taking any chances,” and that the scratch “is a bummer, but far from tragic.” O’Neill guessed that I’ll Have Another has run his last race.

Horse: Dullahan

Trainer: Dale Romans

Pedigree: By Even the Score out of a Smart Strike mare (Mining My Own)

Career Record: 9-2-2-2

Career Earnings: $1,072,091

Notable Races: G1-Kentucky Derby (3^rd); G1-Blue Grass Stakes (1^st); G3-Palm Beach (2^nd); G1-Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (4^th); G2-With Anticipation ( 3^rd)

Can He Win The Belmont Stakes?

Horse: Optimizer

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Pedigree: By English Channel out of an A.P. Indy mare (Indy Pick)

Career Record: 11-1-2-1

Career Earnings: $215,594

Notable Races: G1-Preakness (6th); G1-Kentucky Derby (11^th);G1-Arkansas Derby (9^th); G2-Rebel (2^nd); G2-Risen Star (9^th); G2-Kentucky Jockey Club (4^th); G1-Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (8^th); G1-Breeders’ Futurity (3^rd); G2-With Anticipation (2^nd)

Can He win The Belmont?