Wouldn't have missed it for the world. I had a hunch he'd make it and he did. Took the lead and never gave it up. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was being beaten for all the noise I made. LOL What a beautiful animal and according to all the hype I heard over the last few days...he has a warm disposition to go along with his winning stride. Truly a winner!!!

Very exciting!

Pharo won?

Yes, he won. It was a great race. He is truly a wonderful horse.

Didn't think I'd ever see it again in my lifetime…..so exciting!!

That was a fun race. We were working outside with DH instructed to keep track of the time so I could come in and watch. Just watched it on the small television in my office, that was as far inside as I felt I could come as dirty as I was.

It was exactly what I'd wanted, a triple crown and with Frosted coming in second. If it wasn't going to be a triple crown, I was rooting for Frosted to win. And not for any good reason, I don't really follow the horses that closely but do try to catch the major three races.

I have gotten my hopes up so far so many times. Affirmed won the Triple Crown back when Jim and I were first married. I've been rooting for another Champion every time it's been possible, and after last year, I sorta gave up. But wow, this was SOOO exciting!

That beautiful horse and the jockey truly made it their race--no one could get near them the entire race.

I'm especially happy for the jockey--it was his third try for the Triple Crown. He seems like a good person, and is donating his winnings to the City of Hope.

No, I did not. We used to have horses, and when I learned what goes on in horse racing, I stopped watching forever.

More people should be aware of all the horses who die because of horse racing. The "sport" is ruthless, and it's all about money.

This website keeps track of horse racing injuries and deaths:

http://horseracingwrongs.com/

I am with you Alisande, do not care for the "sport" at all.

Another vote with Alisande, janey and chi83. Thanks, Alisande, for posting that link. I read (can't provide the link) that the horse was hit with the whip 32 times coming down the stretch at the Kentucky Derby and it wasn't even a close race!!

Thoroughbred racing can be such a corrupt business. We had a friend who was a pharmaceutical rep for veterinary medicines. He visited both small animal vets and three racetracks in our area. He saw how the horses were treated behind the scenes and he was aware of several unethical track vets who were willing to take the money and turn the other way. It was heartbreaking to learn.

I cannot watch horseracing or boxing.

Thanks Alisande. I never thought about all of that. Any kind of animal racing, on which bets are placed, is so wrong. (Maybe excluding, kids turtle or rabbit races, etc. which can be just for the fun of it. The prize being non- monetary.)

I know there is a lot of money to be made on horseracing, but thought they were taking extra good care of the horses, not that horrible, behind the scenes treatment!

It goes to show the adage...love of money can be the root of evil

What Alisande says is true, but there is a lot of abuse in all horse sports...not only racing. The lucky ones are the ones that are put down. A lot of them make the trip to Mexico to the slaughter houses there.

Horse racing is a nasty, dirty business, not just for the horses but also for many people involved with it. The way that many fans portray the activity as elegant and civilized is really a hoot. It's mostly just brutal.

I support many uses of "work" animals that others don't, like for scientific research, only if the animals are treated ethically, humanely and respectfully. That's the case most of the time and standards are high and enforced for work done in legitimate institutions like universities and research centers. However, those principles mostly don't exist in the world of horse racing.

I didn't want to miss the chance to offer an opinion in agreement with alisande.

My father and brother owned race horses for a stretch of years, more than 10 years but I think less than 15. They got into it because my brother's best friend was a trainer. They were at the bottom of the food chain, non-expert owners who provided money to the trainer to spot horses to buy that he believed could be better handled and perform better/increase in value. They usually bought and sold in claiming races.

I've been in owners photos when the horses won, gone to training days, been in stables. They were always hounding me to come more frequently but it wasn't my thing. They became completely fixated and compulsively focused on racing as a hobby, and that was as much of a turn-off to me as what I saw and heard.

Where? California only. Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows (now closed), Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar. They may have raced their horses at other places too, I didn't go anywhere else and I don't remember.

My husband was "AT" the Belmont in 1978, to see the last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed. This Belmont was wonderful, even on TV.

've read many accounts similar to what Alisande posted, and I know I'll never go to a horse race, because of the thought of a horse dying for sport/entertainment. That said, my cousin was the owner of "I'll Have Another" who won the Preakness and the Derby in 2012 and was going for the Belmont. But he was pulled from the race just prior, because of a slight inflammation on one of his forelegs. The trainer noticed it when the horse was being groomed after his practice run, although he had run it beautifully. He advised my cousin that even a minor swelling could cause permanent damage to a leg, if a horse is allowed to race before the swelling goes away.

My cousin immediately pulled his horse from the roster, although he obviously would have loved to give him the chance for the Triple Crown. He loves horses and first got interested in them because his best buddy in high school worked as a groom. While I may not personally like the sport of horse racing, at least I was happy that my cousin did not put greed ahead of the safety of his horse, by allowing him to run in the Belmont.

Stud fees paid for highly prized horses can easily amount to more money than race prize winnings. The same is true for what a buyer will pay for a horse who has high value breeding potential.

This horse was sold by its owner 2 weeks after the race it was pulled from. Dead horses can't be sold for stud work. Wouldn't it seem plausible that the decision to pull him from the race was motivated by money and not out of concern for the horse's well being?

Snidely, certainly, as you pointed out, "Dead horses can't be sold for stud work." But my cousin's horse apparently did beautifully in the pre-race practice run and was not favoring the leg at all, despite a slight swelling that the trainer noticed. So nothing leg related was ever considered to put him at risk for dying. This usually occurs from cardiac death, which is unfortunately completely unpredictable, and why I hate horse racing.

However, having won the first two legs of The Triple Crown, his horse would have earned higher stud fees after The Belmont, if it had won, or either placed or showed. So pulling the horse out, and opting for no chance at even coming in second or third, I believe demonstrated that money wasn't the motivation behind his decision. He chose to listen to the advice and protect the horse from the possibility of permanent damage to a leg, rather than allow his horse to race, just because it was showing no signs of any problem running on the leg.