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Hot off the presses, here are the 2011 Belmont Stakes Results and Payouts

#3 Ruler on Ice              51.50    26.00    13.60
#2 Stay Thirsty                          19.40    10.80
#5 Brilliant Speed                                   7.90

$1 Exacta                     $464.00
$2 Daily Double            $994.00
.10 cent Superfecta       $3702.00
$1 Trifecta 3-2-5            $4134.00

If was a pretty uninspiring group of horses that entered the starting gate for the first leg of the Triple Crown, so it is only fitting that it was a pretty uninspiring horse that won the final leg. Ruler on Ice becomes the answer to a trivia question - who won the 2011 Belmont Stakes? He had never won a stakes race before, and seemed totally outclassed in this field.

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom went off as the favorite, with Preakness winner Shackleford, Derby runner-up Nehro, and Master of Hounds, who finished fifth in the Derby, not far behind in the eyes of the public. None of them, though, had a particularly good day. Animal Kingdom collided with Monzon just out of the gate, almost lost his jockey, and never recovered. He finished a totally non-threatening fifth. Shackleford led much of the way, but couldn’t hang on when faced with the challenges of the distance and an off track, and faded to fifth. Nehro finished fourth to round out a superfecta that paid more than $74,000 on a $2 bet.

Trained by Kelly Breen and ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr., Ruler On Ice was the right horse in the right place at the right time. After running well off the pace much of the way he took over the front as the field entered the home stretch and held on four a win by less than a length. He’s a grandson of Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, so there was success in his blood. It just wasn’t that obvious for most bettors to see. Validivia joins a rare group - jockeys who win the longest of the Triple Crown races in their first try.

Stay Thirsty, owned by Vitaminwater founder Mike Repole, finished a close second, with Brilliant Speed coming home for third. The time of the race, which was run over a sloppy track, was 2:30.88 - nearly seven seconds slower than Secretariat’s record pace in 1973.