Closest Belmont Finishes

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

hola33 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:22:58 GMT

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

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

mommacrag — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:13:54 GMT

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

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Racingfan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:30:39 GMT

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!

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Dan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:42:26 GMT

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

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Freetex — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:31:18 GMT

Affirmed

Bold Forbes

Victory Gallop

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Magnolia View Farm — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:30:11 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Ragsy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:17:47 GMT

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

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

tahir cicekci — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:40:35 GMT

victory gallop and rq

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

silverscrngirl — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:45:55 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

TexSpect — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:17:42 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

wALT bROWN — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:38:27 GMT

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!

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Pam — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:59:23 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

James Mc. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:54:32 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

cgc — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:28:55 GMT

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

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Abbie Knowles — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:57:08 GMT

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!

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Lynne Veitch — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:45:36 GMT

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!!

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

LAZMANNICK — Sun, 31 May 2009 03:39:12 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Sundown — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:03:40 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Julie L. — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:30:33 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Old Warhorse — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:00:22 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Old Timer — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:02:03 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

democraticjack — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:31:47 GMT

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?

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

MikeM — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:00:49 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

Bold Forbes — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:14:41 GMT

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.

re: Closest Belmont Finishes

TBone Slew — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:01:18 GMT

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!