In his first trip aboard Union Rags (#3), Johnny Velasquez found the perfect path for trainer Michael Matz to win the Belmont Stakes. Runner-up Paynter's jockey Mike Smith critiqued his ride for drifting off the rail allowing Union Rags a path to the wire. Atigun (#4) got third.
Paynter races for Zayat Stable who also owns Preakness and Kentucky Derby runner-up Virginia-bred Bodemeister. We don't recall a time when the same owner and trainer ran second in all three Triple Crown races with two different horses.
For Union Rags, who went off as the second choice, the win vindicates a troublesome Kentucky Derby and vindicates the potential he showed as a juvenile.
Attendance for the Belmont Stakes was 85,811, likely down due to the defection of Triple Crown aspirant I'll Have Another.
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