ELMONT, N.Y. — For the third consecutive year, the Belmont Stakes began with thunder and ended with a thud, this time 29-1 longshot Lemon Drop Kid waking up on the right day while the Triple Crown aspirant, Charismatic, struggled home third and suffered a career-ending injury.
Shortening his stride 40 yards before the wire, after a fast early pace had run him into the ground, Charismatic bobbled near the finish line Saturday and was saved from more serious injuries when his jockey, Chris Antley, jumped off about 50 yards later and kept the colt from putting more pressure on his broken left foreleg. Antley left the track in tears, but late Saturday, back at trainer Wayne Lukas' barn, his outlook improved when he learned that Charismatic will be saved for the breeding shed.
Charismatic, an escapee from the California claiming ranks who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, was hoping to win the Belmont and become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978. Also down the chute Saturday was the $5-million bonus that a horse earns with a series sweep.
The winner, Lemon Drop Kid, prevailed by a head over another longshot, Vision And Verse, who was 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Charismatic. The rest of the 12-horse field was more spread out, with Best Of Luck, the fourth-place finisher, followed across the line by Stephen Got Even, Patience Game, Silverbulletday, Menifee, Pineaff, Prime Directive, Teletable and Adonis. Silverbulletday, who could have become the third filly overall and the first in 94 years to win the Belmont, played a major role in the outcome by luring Charismatic into a senselessly fast early pace before she faded to seventh, beaten by about 10 1/2 lengths.
Lemon Drop Kid's shocker came before a record Belmont Park crowd of 85,818. Trainer Scotty Schulhofer's colt, ridden by Jose Santos, paid $61.50 to win, becoming the fourth biggest longshot winner in Belmont Stakes history. Vision And Verse, who skipped the Derby and Preakness and won the Illinois Derby for his Belmont prep, was 54-1 and combined for a $2 exacta that was worth $1,537. The trifecta on the first three finishers paid a whopping $5,343.
Lemon Drop Kid, owned by Jeanne Vance and her husband Laddie Dance, was winless in three stakes this year, running fifth in the Blue Grass, ninth in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Peter Pan, which was run at Belmont Park two weeks ago. The Belmont was Lemon Drop Kid's fourth win in 11 starts and his first stakes win since the Futurity at Belmont in September. From the $1-million purse, he earned $600,000, running 1 1/2 miles in 2:27 4/5.
