Three Different Races, Three Different Winners The Test of Champions held at Belmont Park on Saturday, June 11 featured a pair of champions - 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford. But the winner of the 2011 Belmont Stakes was instead won by a longshot -- and with a jockey who had never been to the Belmont Stakes before. Peruvian born jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. took Ruler On Ice across the finish line first for the win. Stay Thirsty with jockey Javier Castellano finished in second place and Brilliant Speed with jockey Joel Rosario took the third place finish.
| Finish Position | Horse Name | Gate Position | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruler On Ice | 3 | J Valdivia | Kelly Breen |
| 2 | Stay Thirsty | 2 | J Castellano | O'Brien/Pletcher |
| 3 | Brilliant Speed | 5 | J Rosario | Thomas Albertrani |
| Gate | Horse name | Min | Win | Place | Show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Ruler On Ice | $2 | $51.50 | $26.00 | $13.60 |
| 2 | Stay Thirsty | $2 | $19.40 | $10.80 | |
| 5 | Brilliant Speed | $2 | $7.90 |
| Min | Bet | Results | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | Daily Double | 1-3 | $1,988.00 |
| $1 | Exacta | 3-2 | $928.00 |
| $1 | Trifecta | 3-2-5 | $8,268.00 |
| $1 | Superfecta | 3-2-5-6 | $74,052.00 |
| $1 | Pick 3 | 4-1-3 | $21,005.00 |
| $1 | Pick 4 | 2-4-1-3 | $142,097.00 |
Ruler On Ice Rules Over Sloppy Track to Win Test of Champions
The 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes featured a deep field of 12 horses, the maximum field eligible for contention in this year's race. Similar to the 2011 Preakness Stakes, Shackleford led most of the way but then lost a bit of ground to jockey Jose Valdivia, who had made an earlier move to the outside with Ruler On Ice.
"I felt I had a lot of horse left in him," Valdivia said immediately following the race. "And then I thought, 'oh my God! oh my God! I'm going to win the Belmont Stakes!"
And just like that the Belmont Stakes would be claimed by longshot Ruler On Ice and by a jockey who was making his first ride in the Belmont Stakes. This story is made all the sweeter considering The Test of Champions also included a pair of champions - 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and 2011 Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford. To most everyone's surprise, neither the Derby nor the Preakness champion finished the Belmont in the top three. Second place went to Stay Thirsty with jockey Javier Castellano, and third place went to jockey Joel Rosario and Brilliant Speed
To his credit, jockey Jesus Castanon had Shackleford just where he wanted him, in front, and had he gotten off to a better start, jockey John Velazquez and Animal Kingdom may have had a much better run than a sixth-place finish in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
"He broke okay but then he clipped the heels of the horse who moved right in front of us," said Velazquez, who at one point looked like he was going to fall off Animal Kingdom. "Right then I knew that was it. I knew we had lost right from the start."
To be fair, track conditions were sloppy and that probably didn't help Animal Kingdom, but then that didn't seem to be a factor for Ruler On Ice, who today ruled over Belmont Park.
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