Horse Racing

Dornoch, 17-1 long shot co-owned by Jayson Werth, wins 2024 Belmont Stakes, third leg of Triple Crown

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6 months ago

June 8, 2024

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Dornoch, 17-1 long shot co-owned by Jayson Werth, wins 2024 Belmont Stakes, third leg of Triple Crown

Dornoch hit it out of the park.

The 17-1 long shot won Saturday’s 156th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Luis Saez, who was aboard Dornoch, controlled the pace against a strong 10-horse field that included Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness winner Seize the Grey for his second career Belmont Stakes victory and $2 million prize. Saez won aboard Essential Quality in 2021.

It was the first Belmont win for trainer Danny Gargan and co-owner Jayson Werth, a former Major League Baseball All-Star.

“I would put it right up there with winning on the biggest stage,” said Werth, who won a World Series title with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, after the race on Fox.

“Horse racing is the most underrated sport in the world, bar none. It’s the biggest game: You get the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont. We just won the Belmont. This is as good as it gets in horse racing. It’s as good as it gets in sports.”

Unlike his 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, Dornoch showed what he was capable of in the third leg of the Triple Crown.

Dornoch and Seize the Grey led the field into the homestretch with Mindframe making a move down the stretch. Seize the Grey faded and Dornoch was able to hold off the threat from Mindframe to win the race by a half-length. He posted a winning time of 2:01.64

Sierra Leone, the favorite at 8-5, struggled out the gate but ended up finishing third. Honor Marie was fourth.

This is the sixth straight year a different horse won each of the Triple Crown races − the longest stretch since 1924-29.

“When I rode this horse here in Saratoga for the first time (July 29), I told Danny, ‘You have the Derby winner,’” Saez said. “Unfortunately, the Derby’s a crazy race and we draw that No. 1 hole. Today, we have pretty good confidence that we could win this race.”

Traditionally held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, the famed track’s meet was relocated to the iconic Saratoga Race Course due to a $455 million renovation at Belmont Park.

The distance of the race was also different than the norm. This year’s race was 1¼ miles, shorter than the traditional 1½. It was shortened to 1¼ miles – the same distance as the Kentucky Derby – because the shape of the track at Saratoga Race Course made it implausible to run it at 1½ miles. When the race returns to Belmont in 2026, it is then expected to go back to being a 1½-mile race.