![Dornoch (6), with Luis Saez, crossed the finish line ahead of Mindframe (10) with Irad Ortiz Jr. to win the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race at Saratoga on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Springs, New York (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2555x1916+160+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2Fb3%2F51ab6d544df3ba3b071d63562f15%2Fap24160826080251.jpg)
Dornoch (6) crossed the finish line with Irad Ortiz Jr. ahead of Mindframe (10) with Luis Saez to win the 156th Belmont Stakes horse race in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Julie Jacobson/AP
Hide caption
Caption transition
Julie Jacobson/AP
In a surprise finish, Dornoch won Saturday's Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Among a stacked field, the odds were 17-1, with the horse not in favor.
The win gave jockey Luis Saez his second Belmont Stakes victory and trainer Danny Gargan's first.
Despite the colt's recent poor start, Dornoch's team wasn't ready to quit on him.
“No one believed this,” trainer Gargan told Fox Sports during the post-fight broadcast. “The last two races were eliminations. I told Lewis that if you run a race, no one can beat you.”
The horse looked set to win the April Blue Grass Race, but was beaten by another winner, Sierra Leone, and finished fourth.
The following month in the Kentucky Derby, the horse started at a disadvantage by taking first place post position, and finished the race in 10th place in the middle of the field.
“When I rode this horse here at Saratoga last year, I told Danny I had a Derby winner,” Saez said. “Unfortunately the Derby was a crazy race but we had a good trip today.”
Prior to Saturday's race, Sierra Leone, who finished second in this year's Kentucky Derby, was the favorite to win, followed by Preakness winners Seize the Gray and Mindframe, according to Fan Duel Sportsbook odds.
changed stake
The final leg of this year's Triple Crown looked a little different.
First, the Belmont Stakes moved from its traditional venue at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, to Saratoga Race Course, more than a three-hour drive north. We welcome the return of horse racing in 2026.
The purse also got bigger, increasing from $1.5 million last year to $2 million. After the prize money is distributed to the top runners, approximately $1.2 million in prize money will go to the first place winner.
The race was also shortened by a quarter of a mile. This year's Belmont Stakes, typically the longest of the Triple Crown races at 1 1/2 miles, was the same distance as the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby due to the shape of the track.