In the Belmont Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, Dornoch stunned everyone with a upset win. He was up against stiff competition; however, he emerged victorious against odds of 17 to 1.

“It’s a huge race to win, I lost my voice a little bit, we were riding him down the lane pretty hard,” said trainer Danny Gargan after the race. “Speechless. He’s such a talented horse, we’ve thought so much of him all along. For him to get us here, and just be a part of it, it’s a special ride.”

With this win, trainer Danny Gargan gets this prestigious race for the first time in his career and jockey Luis Saez wins Belmont Stakes twice in his career.

Dornoch’s staff never stopped believing in the colt even when he had had a string of bad starts.

“No one believed in this horse,” Trainer Gargan said after the race. “Those last two races are throw-outs. I told Luis you run your race, nobody’s going to beat you.”

Despite the appearance that he was prepared to win the Blue Grass Stakes in April, Sierra Leone, another contender horse, came fourth.

Starting from the unfavorable No. 1 post position at the Kentucky Derby the following month, the horse experienced an immediate backfire and came in at the middle of the pack in 10th position.

Trainer Danny Gargan captured for the first time the Triple Crown event while jockey Luis Saez also triumphed in his second Belmont Stakes.

The race this year was also special in its shift of venue to Saratoga Springs, New York and the nail-biting finish of the race. It was for the first time in Belmont Stakes’ 156 year history that the event was held away from the Belmont Park due to renovation work. This arrangement will be in force till at least 2026.

It is also important to note that for the consecutive year now, a new horse has emerged the winner of the Triple Crown races. Mystik Dan, the Kentucky Derby shocker, couldn’t use that as springboard to the second leg of the Triple Crown when he finished second at the Preakness Stakes to Seize The Grey. The most recent horse that one can mention is Seize The Grey, which participated in the Derby’s dramatic photographic finish and although it was not invincible, it proved rather tenacious and won the race, completing yet another turn in the Triple Crown series.

There was a new format to this year’s event with a new track and distance that the elite group of athletes that featured at Saratoga Springs on Saturday had to contend with.

The Belmont Stakes race that takes place at Belmont Park on the large sand track known as “The Test of Champions” was contested at a distance of a mile and a quarter this year. This move placed the race at Saratoga Race Course conveniently at the same distance like the Kentucky Derby, convenient for contestants.