The colt, owned by former MLB player Jayson Werth, scored a big upset in the final Triple Crown race of the year
By Steven Taranto
• 1 min read
Dornoch took the victory in the 156th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Springs on Saturday evening, withstanding a late effort from both Mindframe and Sierra Leone to pull the upset at 17-1 odds. The result means each Triple Crown race had a different winner in 2024. Mindframe and Sierra Leone, both among the favorites entering the race, finished second and third, respectively.
Dornoch broke well from the gate, maintaining pace with Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey down the opening straightaway through turns 1 and 2 and onto the backstretch. But while Seize the Grey was not able to sustain his pace as the race wound down, Dornoch had more than enough for a burst down the final straightaway, even as Mindframe and Sierra Leone both made their charges heading towards the finish line. Dornoch would prevail by half a length at the finish line.
Dornoch's victory is the first Belmont Stakes win for West Paces Racing co-owner Jayson Werth, a former Major League Baseball All-Star, as well as trainer Danny Gargan. Jockey Luis Saez, meanwhile, earned his second win at the Belmont Stakes after previously winning with Essential Quality in 2021.
Dornoch's win serves as major redemption for the horse coming off the Kentucky Derby, in which he was shuffled back to midpack and finished 10th after starting from the No. 1 post. Today, things went much more to plan for everyone involved, validating the faith that both jockey and trainer had in their steed.
"I never lost faith in him," Saez told Fox Sports of Dornoch. "When I rode this horse last year here in Saratoga for the first time, I told Danny 'you have a Derby winner.' But unfortunately, you know, the Derby is a crazy race and we drew that No. 1 hole. Today we had pretty good confidence that we could win this race. Thank God we got it."
"He's one of the top three horses in the country and we've always thought it," Gargan said. "... Today we let him run his race and he won. If he gets to run, he's always gonna be tough to beat."
The win for Dornoch completes Triple Crown season, which saw three different horses win all three races for the sixth year in a row. Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was never truly a factor in today's race, finishing eighth, while Seize the Grey would see its effort to go 2-for-3 on the year after winning at the Preakness dissipate on its way to finishing seventh.
156th Belmont Stakes payouts
6 -- Dornoch -- WIN ($37.40), PLACE ($17.60), SHOW ($8.10)
10 -- Mindframe -- PLACE ($6.80), SHOW ($4.20)
9 -- Sierra Leone -- SHOW (+42.60)
156th Belmont Stakes results
- Dornoch
- Mindframe
- Sierra Leone
- Honor Marie
- Antiquarian
- Protective
- Seize the Grey
- Mystik Dan
- The Wine Steward
- Resilience
Updates
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Dornoch to the lead and holding Seize the Grey tight off turn 4! Here comes Highframe on the outside! It's Mindframe and Dornoch side-by-side, here comes Sierra Leone, but Dornoch is able to get a nose out over Mindframe, break away, and win the Belmont Stakes!
Dornoch takes the win for former MLB All-Star and horse owner Jayson Werth and trainer Danny Gargan, and gives jockey Luis Saez his second career victory in this race.
- Dornoch
- Mindframe
- Sierra Leone
- Honor Marie
- Antiquarian
- Protective
- Seize the Grey
- Mystik Dan
- The Wine Steward
- Resilience
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End of the backstretch and Seize the Grey and Dornoch are side-by-side for the lead. Headed through turns three and four now.
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Seize the Grey takes the early lead over Dornoch and Mindfram headed to the backstretch.
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Horses loaded. Gates are open. Here we go!
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The field is now headed for the starting line. Packed house at Saratoga as the grid takes form.
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Horses are headed to the grid now. Five minutes to post time.
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Another pre-race interview, this time for Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown.
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Great intro to today's race, via the voice of the one and only Tom Durkin -- A legend in horse race announcing.
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Pre-race interview with D. Wayne Lukas, who made history with Seize the Grey's victory at the Preakness. At 88 years old, Lukas became the oldest trainer to ever win a Triple Crown race.
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One of the other major contenders today is Mainframe, who has a chance to stake its claim to horse racing history in the state of Maryland: While the state is rich in racing heritage thanks to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, a Maryland-bred horse has not won a Triple Crown race since Caveat in 1983.
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While Mystik Dan (Kentucky Derby) and Seize the Grey (Preakness) are the two winners in Triple Crown season so far, neither is favored for today's race: That distinction belongs to Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, whose 9-5 odds put him as the favorite along with Mindframe (7-2), Mystik Dan (5-1) and Seize the Grey (8-1) entering today's race.
Part of that is because since the Kentucky Derby, Sierra Leone has changed jockeys: Flavien Prat has taken over as the horse's jockey, with trainer Chad Brown also making an equipment adjustment in hopes of allowing Sierra Leone to better hold its line.
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Great crowd on hand for today's Belmont Stakes. Plenty have surely made the trip up to Saratoga from downstate, but this is one of horse racing's most historic locales overall, meaning there's surely plenty of locals taking advantage of this unique opportunity to see a Triple Crown race here.
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From Fox Sports:
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Coverage of the Belmont Stakes is now live on Fox.
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In case you're only just checking in on horse racing, it should be noted that this is a unique year for the Belmont Stakes: Normally, this event is held at historic Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. But with construction currently taking place at Belmont, this year's race has been moved upstate to Saratoga Springs. As a byproduct of the venue change, that means this year's Belmont Stakes is now a 1.25 mile race as opposed to the traditional 1.5 mile Belmont.
Despite that, the spirit of Belmont Park is very much here today -- All the way down to the statue of Secretariat having been temporarily moved from Belmont to Saratoga.
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