Elmont, NY was the setting for the Belmont Stakes yesterday and for those in attendance, the thoroughbred horse race was one of the most exciting of the year. Ruler On Ice won this 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes as a 24-1 longshot.
Ruler On Ice didn’t run either of the other two Triple Crown races this year. In this one, though, he sat just off the lead for most of the race. Known as a very temperamental colt, he was castrated very early in his life because an employee told his owners, George and Lori Hall, that the horse “was so nutty, he was going to hurt someone.” This race was the first time blinkers were used on the horse.
The jockey, Jose Valdivia, Jr, said, “I still felt like I had a lot of horse under me [at the half mile pole]. Turning for home, everything started going in slow motion.” Valdivia let the horse surge to the lead in the last quarter mile.
Stay Thirsty came in second and Brilliant Speed took third. Ruler On Ice paid out $51.50, which is the eight highest in history for the Belmont Stakes. Most of the 55,779 in attendance expected a dual between Shackleford, who won the Preakness, and Animal Kingdom, who won the Kentucky Derby. Shackleford finished fifth and Animal Kingdom finished sixth.
Ruler On Ice was named for the Hall’s son’s prowess on his youth ice hockey league. The horse had acted up so many times, including kicking the walls in the barn, that the owners didn’t even bring him up to Belmont Park until the morning of the race. His victory in the Belmont Stakes marks the third consecutive year that three horses have won a leg of the Triple Crown. Many wonder what it will take for a thoroughbred who can win the Triple Crown again.
Ruler On Ice still showed his temperament in the victory circle, refusing to wear the blanket of flowers .many that this was quite a fitting end to the Triple Crown season.
