Horse partially owned by Atlanta group wins Belmont Stakes

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Dornoch, a 3-year-old colt partially owned by an Atlanta-based racing group, placed No. 1 at the famed Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

Despite his 17-1 odds, Dornoch won by a half-length, skirting the course’s rail to beat Mindframe. Buckhead’s West Paces Racing is one of five companies that claim ownership of the horse.

“I thought the other horse was going to beat us,” Luis Saez, Dornoch’s jockey, said. “But Dornoch, he kept finding. He never let the other one get by. Pretty nice horse, big heart.”

For more than 150 years, the Belmont Stakes has been held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. But Saturday’s race was held at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, while the park undergoes major construction.

Due to the new track, the race was 1 and one-fourth miles instead of the usual 1 and a half miles. But Danny Gargan, Dornoch’s trainer, told the Associated Press that he believes Dornoch would’ve won no matter what.

“I don’t think anybody was getting to him,” he said. “I’d have to watch it again. I kind of got excited jumping around there when he got clear. I didn’t see anybody really making a bold move.”

Dornoch and Society Man, another horse partially owned by West Paces Racing, ran in May’s Kentucky Derby. Dornoch finished 10th out of 20 contestants.

Both horses were sired by Good Magic, the runner-up in the 2018 Derby. They’re also the siblings of 2023 Derby winner Mage.

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