Belmont bonanza

NEW YORK – This ride was as smooth and impressive as his Preakness win was harrowing.

Scattering rivals with a stunning move on the far turn, Afleet Alex rolled to a seven-length victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, the last and longest of the Triple Crown legs.

Jockey Jeremy Rose turned him loose on the turn for home and Afleet Alex responded with locomotive-like power to blow away Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and nine helpless rivals.

“He’s a beast, he’s a freak of nature, he’s made out of steel,” Rose said. “He’s the best 3-year-old in the country.”

With no Triple Crown at stake, 62,274 racing fans at Belmont Park had to settle for watching an amazing colt that averted disaster by a whisker last month at Pimlico when he tangled with another horse and was nearly knocked to his knees.

Rose somehow managed to hang onto his mount in that ride. This time, he was just along for the ride.

“The only thing that was going to get him beat was me, so I just tried to just stay out of his way and let him do his thing and help in the last part,” Rose said.

Rose blamed himself for his colt’s lost shot at racing immortality.

“He should be a Triple Crown winner, but I messed up,” Rose said, referring to Afleet Alex’s third-place finish at Churchill Downs, where he was beaten by two long shots.

But, hey, two out of three ain’t bad, with Afleet Alex becoming the 11th thoroughbred to win the Preakness and Belmont after running – but not winning – the Derby. Among the elite group are Native Dancer, Nashua and Damascus, each of whom just missed in the Derby, too.

Afleet Alex easily won his rubber match with Giacomo, who finished seventh in the field of 11 3-year-olds. Andromeda’s Hero was second and Nolan’s Cat was third.

“I thought I had a good chance to win, but Afleet Alex went by me too fast,” said jockey Edgar Prado, who was aboard fourth-place finisher Indy Storm.

Afleet Alex dropped back early as long shot Pinpoint towed the field through a moderate pace. Giacomo, with Mike Smith aboard, was right off the leaders and made his move on the final sweeping turn. But just when it looked as though the Derby winner was going to roll to victory, Afleet Alex burst through and stormed into the lead.

Giacomo never mounted another threat and faded in the stretch, while trainer Nick Zito finally hit the board in this year’s Triple Crown series with Andromeda’s Hero. It was Zito’s sixth runner-up finish in the Belmont, and a year after he won with Birdstone.

Winning time for the race was 2:28.75, well off Secretariat’s record of 2:24 in 1973. Afleet Alex finished so strongly, he ran the final quarter mile in 24.50 seconds, a half-second faster than Secretariat. To keep things in perspective, however, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths.

Nolan’s Cat, winless in five previous starts, was 6 3/4 lengths behind Andromeda’s Hero. Indy Storm was fourth, followed by A.P. Arrow, Chekhov, Giacomo, Southern Africa, Watchmon, Reverberate and Pinpoint.

Smith said Giacomo had a breathing problem during the race. “He flipped his palate real bad, you can hear it. He made a loud, roaring noise.”

Sent off as the even-money favorite, Afleet Alex returned $4.30, $3.60 and $3. Andromeda’s Hero, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, paid $8.20 and $5.80. Nolan’s Cat, with Norberto Arroyo Jr., paid $7.20 to show.

Afleet Alex became the second favorite in the last 10 years to win the 1 1/2 -mile Belmont, where four of the previous six races produced huge payoffs. Last year, Birdstone spoiled Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown try and returned $74 for a $2 win ticket. In 2002, Sarava won and paid $142.50.

Winning trainer Tim Ritchey laid out his ideal race Friday, noting that Rose needed patience in such a long race. He had it.

“All I kept saying was, ‘Be patient, be patient, be patient. Wait, wait, wait,’ ” Ritchey said. “He just exploded. That was the plan. With these big, wide turns, you have to save all the ground you can. Jeremy Rose has now ridden three Triple Crown races like a Hall of Famer.”

Afleet Alex, with his eighth win in 12 starts, earned $600,000 from the $1 million purse and boosted his bankroll to $2,765,800.

The handsome bay colt has become more than a racehorse for Cash Is King Stable, which was formed by five friends from the Philadelphia area who bought Afleet Alex for $75,000 last year. Part of the colt’s earnings is being donated to pediatric cancer research through Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

The stand was started by 4-year-old Alex Scott, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer two days before her first birthday, in 1997. Alex died last August, but the owners, and Ritchey, have become part of the fund-raising drive and more than $2 million has been raised.

“There’s more to life than just horse racing,” Ritchey said the day before the Belmont, “… and this is part of it.”