Dornoch Wins the 2024 Belmont Stakes as Horse Race Is Held in Saratoga for the First Time

Saratoga Race Track hosted the Triple Crown series this year while Belmont Park undergoes renovations until 2026

The 156th Belmont Stakes has a winner!

Racehorse Dornoch won the 2024 Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 8, at the Saratoga Race Track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., defeating the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners. According to Blood Horse, Dornoch is a Kentucky-bred Bay Colt born in 2021.

In the final stretch of the race, CBS reported that Seize the Grey and Dornoch were racing side-by-side. Dornoch was able to take the lead in the last lap ahead of Seize the Grey and Mindframe, who at one point appeared likely to win in the final moments.

Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey were favorites for the race, per CNN. Dornoch “broke late on the final turn,” but was still able to race ahead of the nine other horses.

Dornoch’s owner is former MLB All-Star Jayson Werth, and the steed’s trainer is Danny Gargan.

Jockey Luis Saez saw his second career victory at this year’s Belmont Stakes. He previously won the 2019 Kentucky Derby while riding Maximum Security. However, Maximum Security was disqualified due to a race riding incident — the first time in Kentucky Derby history.

Saez was suspended for 15 days as a result for “failure to control his mount and make the proper effort to maintain a straight course thereby causing interference with several rivals that resulted in the disqualification of his mount,” according to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

This was not a Triple Crown for the winner — which occurs after the same horse wins the Belmont, Preakness and Kentucky Derby races. Seize the Grey came in first place in the Preakness on May 18 and Mystik Dan took home the top prize at the Kentucky Derby on May 4. Mystik Dan came in second during the Preakness after winning by a nose at the Kentucky Derby in a photo finish.

It was a historic year regardless. This was the first time since 2013 that a Preakness winner and a Kentucky Derby winner both competed in the Stakes, according to the AP.

Related: 2 Horses Die at Belmont Park Less Than 24 Hours After the Belmont Stakes

It was also the first year that the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was held in Saratoga while the race’s usual venue, Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., is under construction for the next two years. Saratoga, which is about 187 miles north of New York City, houses one of the most historic racetracks, mineral springs and extensive spas.

The four-day festival began on Thursday, June 6, with the Belmont Gala. Saratoga Spring Water sponsored the gala and also activated with a Spa Veranda during the races. Two-time Top Chef champ Buddha Lo was among the stars and horse-racing enthusiasts at the gala.

The Belmont Stakes has been running since 1867.

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