Inside the Trip: A Historic Belmont

American Pharoah gets a hero's welcome back to the grandstand after winning the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
History was made this weekend as American Pharoah romped to victory in the Belmont Stakes, becoming the 12th-ever Triple Crown winner. Breaking a 37-year drought, the Bob Baffert trainee owned by Ahmed Zayat and ridden by Victor Espinoza became arguably the most famous athlete on four legs since Affirmed in 1978. Trakus takes a moment to look back at the data collected for the 147th Belmont Stakes.
It’s not often that a horse running on the dirt actually speeds up as the race develops instead of slowing down, but that is exactly what American Pharoah did on Saturday. The interior half mile that American Pharoah ran was quicker than the opening half-mile, and the final-half mile was quicker than the interior – which means that through three half-miles, American Pharoah was averaging a quicker time than the previous one. His opening half-mile was done in 49.12 seconds, his middle two quarters in a combined 48.98 seconds, and his final half-mile in 48.71 seconds. It is not often that this kind of maintained increase in speed occurs.
2015 BELMONT STAKES

Video courtesy of NYRA
As a matter of fact, the last three quarters that the son of Pioneerof the Nile ran were tracked in 24.56, 24.54, and 24.17 seconds. That means each of the final three quarters was progressively faster than the last – an astounding feat considering that most horses tend to slow down in their final quarters.
To relate American Pharoah’s performance to previous Belmont Stakes winners, a search through the Equibase charts was conducted, extending back online through 1991. In that 24-year span, only one other Belmont Stakes was won with a faster final half than opening half, and that belonged to the epic triumph of the filly Rags to Riches over Curlin in 2007. Pacesetter C P West posted an opening half of 50.14 seconds before fading as Rags to Riches took the lead, dueling with Curlin for a final half of 48.51 seconds, a full 1.63 seconds quicker. The interior half-mile was 50.09 seconds. It is important to note that unlike American Pharoah, who wired the field, Rags to Riches tracked the leaders before pouncing in the stretch. Also, C P West’s opening fractions of 24.74 and 50.14 seconds were substantially slower than American Pharoah’s 24.07 and 49.12 seconds.
Comparing American Pharoah to previous Triple Crown victors, he succeeded in having the fastest final quarter of the Belmont Stakes in Triple Crown history. His final two furlongs were completed in 24.17 seconds, the next quickest time belonging to Count Fleet, a 25-length victor of the race, and Gallant Fox who share a final quarter of 24.60 seconds. Even the tremendous machine that was Secretariat posted a slower final quarter of 25.00 seconds, slowing down at the end of the race, while managing a still-standing record overall time of 2:24 seconds flat.

**Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes when it was run at 1 3/8 miles
Even though it may be easy to overlook the rest of the field that competed against the newly minted Triple Crown winner, a few of their stats stand out as well. In particular, Keen Ice rallied for third with a final furlong of 12.30 seconds, just .06 seconds off of American Pharoah’s 12.24 seconds. This was after a very wide trip under jockey Kent Desormeaux.
The Dubai invader Mubtaahij had the next-quickest final furlong of 12.56 seconds, while Frosted could only manage 12.73 seconds, hanging on for second after a grueling run. Keen Ice was also beaten 7 ½ lengths, but he covered 50 feet more than the winner, the equivalent of almost six additional lengths. Although it was unlikely that he would have won the race, that margin of ground loss was significant when taking into consideration that the son of Curlin covered 46 feet, or about 5 ½ lengths, more than Frosted in second, who only beat him by two lengths.