The Most Exciting Thrilling Finish and Duel Ever(IMO) has to be Affirmed and Alydar's great Match race(From the half mile on, It was just those two, Never more the a half length apart for over a Mile!). A barn-burning race to the wire, Affirmed was one of the toughest to pass head to head. One of the greatest rivalries(If not the Best!) in horse racing history!

    Amazing Race, Both Great Champions...

For once my rankings matched the masses: Affirmed & Alydar, Rags to Riches, and Victory Gallop.

It was close between the top three for me because RTR and Curlin was just amazing, i actually wanted curlin to win. RQ because he lost by a nose hair in the very last stride, literally. Affirmed and Alydar because a rilvalry like that and a race like that with both horses locked in eternal battle has to be among the best ever.

Even though I liked so many of these close finishes,it would have to go to  Victory Gallop over Real Quiet.The race went down to the last mili second!

Touch Gold was also a thrill and Rags To Riches was just a fantastic race by two superstars!!

Can't even believe this is up for debate-Affirmed and Alydar, hands down.  The last time it really mattered.....

 Alydar and Affirmed

It was,nt even close because when

Affirmed beat Alydar for the third time it meant he was a triple crown winner.

What was the final margin of victory in Birdstone's win? I had Rag's to beat Curlin but even if it was more than 1 you can't deny that colt the best victory in the Belmont other than the obvious (BIG RED)

Victory Gallop by a nose! Come on guys, I still don't know who won! All the other races - you know! Not when RQ & VG ran.

I put Real Quiet over Affirmed for two reasons I saw it for one, whereas I've only seen Affirmed on tape(I turn 40 in Nov), and while winning the triple crown is the best sporting achievement(to me) losing it by a nose is very thrilling also especially with the thought that if RQ had won he likely would have been DQ'd.

Affirmed v. Alydar. Simply the best rivalry ever in this sport. As I've said before though, it killed me watching Silver Charm's crown be denied in the last furlong.

VICTORY GALLOP VICTORY, WAS THE GREATEST.

NO TIME OR FIELD LEFT, AND HE MADE IT!!

AWESOME!

It is Victory Gallop over Real Quiet!!

That is the closest and hair racing outcome in Belmont Stakes, when VG beat RQ by a nose where Triple Crown was on the line.

A mistake that KD that he will never forget in the rest of his life......

Touch Gold was amazing.  If that horse had 4 healthy hooves there's nothing he couldn't have done.  As it was he won that stirring Belmont on 3 legs.  What a horse!

I had a seat at the top of the stretch for Victory Gallop's Belmont win. When RQ past me I thought for sure no one could run him down. I still can't believe that Victory Gallop was able to get up for the win.

My  wife  who  was  six  month's pregnant  bet  $10.00 all day until  the  Belmont  bet  $428  to  win  on Affirmed  and her  favorite  jockey  Stevie  Cauthen. We  were  in  the picnic  area  surrounded  by  Alydar  fans. She  started  screaming  with  a  mile  to  go  - to  the wire. She  won , but  lost  her  voice.  It  was  a happy , quiet  trip  home  to  south  Jersey.  We  saw  history  made that  afternoon.

Affirmed and Alydar - HANDS DOWN, the most THRILLING Belmont finish.

Being a huge Free House fan, I loved it then when Silver Charm lost and appreciate it now even more!!

Affirmed and Alydar;  if Alydar would have just changed to his correct lead he would have gotten by Affirmed.  Alydar ran practically the entire length of the stretch on the wrong lead.  He was on his left lead and he should have been on his right lead,  the correct lead for the stretch run.  Anybody out there who KNOWS ANYTHING about horsemenship and how to ask a horse to pick up the correct lead when going into a canter will see when they look at Alydar's stretch run that he is on his left lead,  with his left front foreleg coming out first and the farthest of all four legs,  that is the left lead and he needed to be on his right lead and he wasn't. I showed hunters and jumpers for over 10 years on the AQHA circuit and I know about all about leads. On horseback you can tell which lead the horse is on by looking at which shoulder comes out the farthest, or if you're an expert rider, such as myself, you can feel it without looking. Alydar only lost by a nose, if he had changed to his correct lead after rounding the final turn...

Affirmed and Alydar - ABSOLUTELY!!  What an amazing rivalry; both of them just so magnificent and talented.  And Affirmed held on for the last triple crown - it was a very important head.

Close finishes aside, when only a 1/2 Length separates 2 horses for the LAST mile of a 1 1/2 mile race going eye to eye, it's breathtaking.  I was there, experienced the atmosphere...Wow!!

Affirmed & Alydar

Alydar and Affirmed enough said.

Looks like the survey is skewing towards more recent races, instead of the class of the horse that got beat.  Tom Rolfe's defeat was major news, while defeat for Bold Forbes was a yawn. Lemon Drop Kid?  Best of an average crop.

DK Stables,

     I am so Jealous you got to see that incredible duel in person!, I believe it was one of the first races I ever saw(I was eleven at the time!)...What an Amazing race between two Great Horses...

At Belmont in 98, I recall the confusion at the finish, the confusion when VG's number was posted over RQ, for a split second, and some of the anger in the clubhouse and grandstand.  REAL ANGER.  If the stewards had taken down a winning RQ, I fear there would have been revolt.  

Affirmed and Alydar

No Question at all!

They could have kept going all the way around again, and it would have finished the same way. Affirmed was not going to allow Alydar to go by him. It didnt matter what lead Alydar was on, He wasnt going by on that day!

Old Warhorse...Bold Forbes' defeat was not a yawn because he didn't lose.  He held on after setting crazy fast splits for 1 1/2 miles.

Although RQ bumped VG right before the finish line it's hard to believe he would have been taken down had VG finished secound. It would have been very interesting.

Victory Gallop's Belmont by a nose over A & A's race.  I had my money on VG and I couldn't breathe during the stretch run.  Would an Alydar victory have been any more impressive than a RQ victory?

It has to be Affrimed Vs. Alydar #1 as they battled for almost the whole race. Victory Gallop was thrilling also as it denied the triple to Real Quiet and it seemed like he would not catch him until the final jump. Touch Gold to me was a heartbreaker as my cash was on Silver Charm and he had put away his nemesis, Free House, only to get blind-sided by Touch Gold in the final yards.  And you have to rank Rags up there as she made history as a filly. So generally I have no argument with the consensus -- except maybe Jaipur should have been a little higher.

Dear Bold Forbes:  It wasn't thrilling.  As a race of itself, yes, but not comparable to Affirmed/Alydar or Rags to Riches.  Not the same quality of horse.

I have always said that the greatest Belmont ever was Affirmed & Alydar. From the git go they were at each other and the rest of the field didn't matter. The most thrilling race call I have ever heard and when watching the race you saw how those two champions were really giving it they're all. And I too believe that if Alydar would only have switched leads he would have won the Belmont but that was always a problem with him I have read. Rags to Riches and Curlin were another great Belmont and most definately the Bemont of Real Quiet and Victory Gallop. I was at work watching that race believing I was going to finally see another Triple Crown winner, I just about killed over when Victory Gallop came running and would have sworn that Real Quiet had it by a nose not the other way around. In my heart Real Quiet wears the Crown.

Even though I was never around for A&A I still would place that one first for its historicness (is that a word) and form what I've read and seen. But wow...Real Quiet and Victory Gallop was the first Belmont I watched. I was young and I burst into tears after the race, screaming how much I hated Victory Gallop for ruining everything.  My family makes fun of me to this day.  It's still painful to watch that race.

Victgory Gallop:

A thrilling finish for the win but how many people realize that if he had lost, a claim of foul was going to be called against Real Quiet.

What would the stewards have done then.  Could you imagine in your wildest dreams having a triple crown winner  DQ'd.

Wasn't Birdstone's win over Smarty Jones a very close one too?  I'll never forget Mrs. Whitney apologizing for upstaging another Triple Crown effort!!

A dead heat between those epic duels of Affirmed and Alydar and Rags to Riches and Curlin.  They were superb, thrilling, memorable, exciting in fact every superlative you can think of applies to those races.  

The commentary on "Rags" win always makes me laugh.  The sheer incredulity of "and a filly wins The Belmont!"  Though with "Rachel" winning the Preakness fillies winning Triple Crown races is becoming commonplace!!!!?  

Maybe one day a filly will win the Triple Crown and I would love it to be "Rags'" daughter!

Rags and Curlin will always be my favorite - but talk about rivalries...what about Sunday Silence and Easy Goer?  SS capturing the Derby and the Preakness in a thrill-ride; EG taking him out in the Belmont...then the 2 champs giving everyone another thrill in the BC.... www.youtube.com/watch

To me, the Victory Gallop triumph was sweet vindication.

I remember reading that the Sheets guys had VG's Derby as the fastest ever of the ones they analyzed based on ground loss. His run in that race was absolutely titanic. I've never seen any horse with a closing kick like he had.

He still holds the Churchill track record (1:47.28) for his epic '99 Foster:

www.youtube.com/watch

after which Bailey said his move on the turn was the most powerful of any horse he's ever ridden.

RQ of course, got the usual dream Derby trip and held on by a half length.

I was a huge fan of VG and had everything crushed, absolutely everything, if he won, from the 16-1 win bet, to the Derby-Oaks double, tri, ex, Woodford-Derby double, pick 3, pick 4...

I never even tried to figure out how much I would have won, didn't want to know.

So I was delighted when he came and got RQ in the last instant of the Belmont.

I totally disagree with those who criticize KD's ride that day, I thought he rode brilliantly, opened up a big lead and would have won easily if he hadn't been facing a horse with one of the greatest closing kicks in racing history.  

Real Quiet and Victory Gallop! My heart was in my mouth! Say what you will about "the Fish"(and there are definitely haters out there), but he came closer to a TC than any other horse has since Affirmed. You could hear the crowd's collective groan when VG was announced the winner.

Touch Gold was another tough break. Silver Charm is probably the gutsiest horse I've seen in my lifetime and to lose the TC because he couldn't see TG coming...that was a tough one to swallow.

As for the immortal Affirmed and Alydar. I wasn't alive when they raced, so I never saw them live. The videos, though, are certainly heart-stopping.

AFFIRMED AND ALYDAR WAS THE BEST OF ALL TIME BUT VICTORY GALLOP SNATCHING THE TRIPLE CROWN FROM REAL QUIET HAS TO THE NEXT BEST BELMONT FINISH. TOO BAD WE DON'T HAVE ANYMORE LIKE AFFIRMED AND ALYDAR!  

The Alphabet tells the story - A. vs A. The fact that Affirmed was headed in the last 16th and came back to out finish Alydar in the last few strides speaks volumes. The fact that the horse made the determination is why this was the best finish although not the closest. Add to the facts, the horse never beat himself is a testament to his greatness.

Affirmed vs Alydar is probably the most thrilling. Which each leg of the Triple Crown Alydar was inching up on Affirmed yet Affirmed found extra gas in the tank to keep his head out in front.  All three legs of the Crown had to be a thrill with those two horses.

victory gallop and rq

Affirmed and Alydar

 I never remember who comes in 2nd but with these two,one never had to guess.... wish we had another great pair as these 2.....then you have Rags and Curlin but its not the same...love them alll

Without a doubt, Affirmed and Alydar.  On that historic day, fans saw two champions compete.  A match race.  Eyes only focused on two magnificent specimens as they ran as one plummetted down the stretch.  However, it was Secretariat's Belmont that still gives me chills.  Racing only with the ghosts of past champions.  Forever elevated into the hearts and history of the Sport of Kings.

Affirmed

Bold Forbes

Victory Gallop

Wasn't A.P. Indy's win in 1992 pretty close as well??

AFFIRMED & ALYDAR HANDS DOWN!

Nice to see a post on here from you Mr. Veitch.  You sure know how to train a horse sir!  Even though Alydar didn't win he was one heck a a horse too!

The first filly in 102 years to win belmont,come on give this great filly credit she deserves.Rags to Riches and Curlin.

i had the rankings as affirmed then rags to riches and then victory gallop those were the best finishes i have seen in the belmont