Saturday's 146th Belmont Stakes was a thriller that came down to two photo finishes. Only problem: The one for victory did not involve Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome, but rather Tonalist nipping surprising front-runner Commissioner by a head.
California Chrome was involved in his own photo in Belmont Park's $1.5 million race, dead-heating for fourth with Wicked Strong, the pair finishing three-quarters of a length behind Louisville-based Medal Count.
Trainer Art Sherman told Sports Illustrated on Saturday night that the Derby winner, who bobbled out of the gate, caught the heel of his right foreleg with his right hind leg. A Daily Racing Form photo posted on Twitter shows a bloody nick on the foot. MORE:
So horse racing's Triple Crown goes unswept for a 37th year since Affirmed pulled off the hat trick in 1978.
'This is very important to me, like always,' said jockey Joel Rosario, who won his first Belmont a year after he won the Kentucky Derby on Orb. 'This horse, he did very good today.'
Still, he admitted he also was rooting for California Chrome: 'If I was going to get beat, I wanted to just get beat by him.'
Christophe Clement, the French-born, New York-based trainer who won his first Triple Crown race, was asked about playing the 'spoiler' and objected to that term.
'I don't like that, because that implies something negative,' he said good-naturedly. 'There's nothing negative. California Chrome did a great thing. He won the Derby, was great. He won the Preakness, was great. He came, created a wonderful buzz. Of course, I'm going to try to do everything I can to win the race. And I'm very happy. I'm sure we'll manage to find a way to sleep tonight regarding the disappointment.'
For jockey Victor Espinoza, it marked his second Belmont defeat with a Triple Crown on the line. But California Chrome, who lost by less than two lengths after 1½ miles, ran far better in the Belmont than did his 2002 Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem, who stumbled badly at the start and wound up eighth - at the time the worst finish for a horse going for the Triple Crown.
'I've had a tremendous ride with him,' said Espinoza, who had been 6-0 on California Chrome. 'We reached almost the top, just one step away. It's tough for a California Chrome to come back in three weeks and a mile and a half. This race is just tough.
'Turning for home I was just waiting to have the same kick like he always had before. And today he was a little bit flat down the lane.'
Sherman declined to talk to the media. Son and assistant Alan Sherman said: 'When Victor started to squeeze on him, he didn't respond. He was wore out, I think. ... The horse tried hard. It's a long hard ride on these young horses, and that's why the Triple Crown is so tough to win.'
It was a tough day for the three horses who ran in each Triple Crown race. General a Rod finished seventh after pressing the early pace. Ride On Curlin, in midpack early, went the wrong direction and was eased by jockey John Velazquez.
WinStar Farm's Todd Pletcher-trained Commissioner, a son of Belmont winner A.P. Indy out of a mare by Belmont winner Touch Gold, never had led in a race. But he went straight to the front from post 8 under Javier Castellano, with California Chrome and General a Rod applying the most pressure.
Tonalist settled just behind the leaders on the outside from post 11 and wound up wide on both turns before making his winning run.
Commissioner, off at 28-1 odds, had a 1½-length margin with a half-mile to go, with Tonalist cutting at his deficit with every stride. Tonalist finished in 2:28.52 and paid $20.40 to win as the fifth choice in the field of 11.
'He's a big horse, and it helped him going a mile and a half,' Rosario said. '... When I crossed the three-eighths pole, I knew I had a lot of horse and I hadn't even asked him yet. I was very confident. But when I turned for home, he stayed there (in place) for a little bit, but he picked them up after that.'
Medal Count, who finished eighth in the Derby in his last start, saved ground on the inside under Robby Albarado to finish only a length behind the first two finishers at 24-1 odds.
'I was very proud of him,' trainer Dale Romans said. 'I think if he could have slipped through a little earlier, maybe we could get there. ... I'm happy anyway. It's a great day for racing in America. It's unbelievable the way this New York crowd came out here and supported our sport. ... It's about being around greatness, and California Chrome is greatness. He couldn't get it done today, like the last 12 that tried, but he's greatness.'
Tonalist was a promising colt whose shot at the Derby ended when he became down with a lung infection while preparing for Aqueduct's Wood Memorial. In his stakes debut he won Belmont's Grade II Peter Pan in the slop on May 10, the runner-up by four lengths that day being Commissioner.
'He just galloped,' owner Robert S. 'Shel' Evans said. 'That was a clue he was really a good horse, because he was only about three-quarters fit. Then we had four weeks to get ready for this, and Christophe had him just right.'
Before that, Tonalist was second in a Gulfstream Park allowance race won by Commissioner's stablemate Constitution, who sustained a fracture that knocked him off the Triple Crown trail.
The bay son of the Gainesway Farm stallion Tapit now is 3-1-0 in five starts, earning $957,000 with the $800,000 payday. Clement said he believes in pedigree, and that came out in the Belmont.
Evans is the son of the late Thomas M. Evans, who won the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Pleasant Colony but saw his Triple Crown hopes end with a third in Summing's Belmont. Tonalist is out of a mare (Settling Mist) by Pleasant Colony and was bought privately by Evans.
'I've been in this game a long time,' he said. 'I told somebody this morning that I've been in it 50 years. I can't wait another 50 years to win a race like this.'
Evans noted his family was in the same position as California Chrome's connections, including co-owner Steve Coburn, who on television after the defeat called it 'the coward's way out' to run in the Belmont without going in the Derby and Preakness.
'Yesterday I went to my father's grave and thanked him for putting me in position to be doing this,' Evans said. 'I came in 1981 to the Belmont. We had high hopes for Pleasant Colony. I've been where Steve Coburn has been, and it's not fun when you don't win. He was a wonderful horse, and it's very satisfying to be able to make up for that.' Contact Jennie Rees at 502-582-4042. Follow her on Twitter @CJ_Jennie, Facebook.com/CJJennie and courier-journal.com/racingblog.
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