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Justify Wins Belmont To Become 13th Triple Crown Champion

/ CBS Boston

NEW YORK (AP) — Justify led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 1¾ lengths and become horse racing's 13th Triple Crown champion and second in four years.

Related: Gronkowski (The Horse) Finishes Second In Belmont Stakes

The chestnut colt is the second undefeated colt to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, improving to 6-0 in a racing career that began on Feb. 18.

Seattle Slew was unbeaten when he won the Triple Crown in 1977.

Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, Justify went to the lead out of the starting gate and led nine rivals around the track's sweeping turns on Saturday. He's the first Triple Crown winner to face that many rivals in the 1½-mile Belmont.

Justify Wins Belmont Triple Crown
Justify, ridden by jockey Mike Smith crosses the finish line to win the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9, 2018 in Elmont, New York. Justify becomes the thirteenth Triple Crown winner and the first since American Pharoah in 2015. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Bob Baffert became the second trainer to win the Triple Crown twice. He did so with American Pharoah in 2015, ending a 37-year drought.

Gronkowski the Horse
Gronkowski (left) finished just under two lengths behind Justify, who won the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown June 9, 2018 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)

At 52, Mike Smith is the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown.

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For more Belmont coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/Horseracing

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

First published on June 9, 2018 / 7:22 PM EDT

© 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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