SB Nation St. Louis - Belmont Stakes 2012: Union Rags Wins Thriller With Late Pass Of Paynter

Belmont Stakes 2012: I'll Have Another, Retired, Returns To California Home

2012-06-12T12:01:36Z

The 2012 Belmont Stakes started out the place where we thought I'll Have Another might make Triple Crown history, and it ended the place where I'll Have Another ended his brilliant racing career much earlier than anyone would have anticipated, retiring on Saturday in a ceremony before the race. Now, according to the Throughbred Times, I'll Have Another is back in California, set for whatever the next stage of his life might bring. (I'm a relative horse-racing novice, but I'm pretty sure the next stage of a thoroughbred's life is usually "lots and lots of horse sex.")

It's a strange ending to the story, but considering the danger that comes with horse-racing injuries it's also a relatively happy one; I'll Have Another didn't break down on track, in front of 20 million fans on TV who watch three races a year—he simply came up lame before the race, and was pulled before things got any worse. With a horse in the Belmont Stakes undercard breaking down and requiring surgery, we were given a glimpse of the much-worse-case scenario.

More Belmont Stakes news:

Union Rags and Paynter made the Belmont Stakes exciting even without I'll Have Another.

Belmont Stakes 2012: Union Rags Finally Lives Up To Potential With Thrilling Win

2012-06-10T02:14:35Z

The 2012 Belmont Stakes is in the books, and while it didn't lead to our first Triple Crown winner in more than 30 years—Affirmed's status as the champion to apparently end all champions remains uncontested—the rest of the race's upper class still managed to impress. Union Rags, a disappointment at the Kentucky Derby and a non-entity in the Preakness, finally showed the potential that had him the early Triple Crown favorite with a late burst of speed to pass Paynter, momentarily leaving our soured memories of I'll Have Another's star-crossed Triple Crown run in the dust.

It won't be remembered quite so clearly by history, but Union Rags's victory over Paynter ensured that the race itself wouldn't be quite so irrelevant as the lead-up to it turned out to be—for a few minutes, history was only as important to the Belmont Stakes's viewers as it was the horses, who I'm told don't care particularly for racing history so long as they're fed regularly and allowed to rear up and buck whenever that one Busch commercial comes on. For more information, check out And Down the Stretch They Come, SB Nation's horse-racing specialists, or take a look at SB Nation Studios' collection of strange, occasionally absurd, briefly informative videos right here.

Belmont Results 2012: Union Rags Wins With Strong Finish

2012-06-09T22:50:28Z

Although the announcement that I'll Have Another would not be racing in the Belmont Stakes stole the headlines, there was still the matter of a race taking place. In a thrilling race that came down to the final stretch, Union Rags closed strong and took the Belmont Stakes in exhilarating fashion.

For much of the race, it looked like Paynter, who entered the race at 4-1 odds, would be the horse to take home the Belmont Stakes. However, Paynter started to fade down the stretch, which allowed Union Rags to emerge from a pack of three horses and close with exceptional speed to win the race.

Bob Baffert,the trainer for Paynter, experienced another heartbreaking performance, as he was also the trainer for Bodemeister, who finished in second place at both The Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

For more, check out SB Nation's horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come. There, you'll also find a A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.

Belmont Stakes 2012: Remaining Horses Are Wild Cards

2012-06-09T16:20:23Z

More: Latest Belmont odds are here.

The 2012 Belmont Stakes is here, with race day in full effect and the race itself just hours away, but most of us watching NBC as casual fans are left with one deeply problematic issue: Now that I'll Have Another has been scratched, the rest of the horses, who haven't had campaign ads run all month on their behalf, are mostly mysteries. Dullahan and Union Rags are something, but the rest of the field? Even the expert scouting reports seem a little underfed. Take this My Adonis report from the great Matt Gardner.

Having read his work I'm sure Matt has all the information there is to have on this horse, a late entrant into the Belmont field, and there isn't much there—he's underperformed before, he has some speed, he's got a pedigree that suggests competence but not at the Belmont's length. If this horse had been in the Triple Crown running we'd know everything about him, his jockey, their family situation, and their owner's job, but now—it's a horse with a name and some odds.

Any of these names at the back—Street Life, Guyana Star Dweej, et al—could have stories just as interesting as I'll Have Another's, except for the one part where they don't win the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Which is the result, I guess, of a sport so ephemeral in the public consciousness and filled with so many athletes.

Belmont Stakes 2012: Triple Crown Miss Hamstrings Horse Racing At Awful Moment

2012-06-09T13:55:36Z

The 2012 Belmont Stakes might not have been able to return horse racing's pride of place among American sports, but before I'll Have Another left the race with tendonitis things were looking up for a Triple Crown, one of the few things that could have brought horse-racing into the front of the news cycle for more than the week leading up to each leg. I'll Have Another could have been a celebrity, a horse whose name people remembered and whose stable, maybe, they visited. Now he's just another horse who's won two legs of the Triple Crown without escaping the Belmont Stakes.

Among other entities, NBC, whose ratings are going to crater during the race, must feel pretty rough about the whole thing. But the real loser is horse racing, which needs to find some way to generate interest among casual fans who might be turned into fans outside the Triple Crown season, if only a narrative could find its way into their sports bubble.

Here's hoping I'll Have Another's near-miss inspires more rabid fervor ahead of next year's Kentucky Derby; this injury problem was so sudden that it's bound to stick in peoples' minds when the mint julep hype machine starts humming next spring. Until then, once more it's time to wait until next year.

2012 Belmont Stakes: Who To Watch When The Race Starts Without I'll Have Another

2012-06-09T12:53:16Z

The 2012 Belmont Stakes is just hours away—the actual race starts at 3:30 PM CDT—and with I'll Have Another out of the running it's time for you to find something else to be interested about when the Belmont Stakes proper begin and all the pre-race rigamarole ends. So—where do you go?

You could start off with Dullahan, if you're boring; the third-place finisher at the Kentucky Derby is the new favorite of the race, at 9-to-5, and stands to get most of the attention from an NBC broadcasting team frantic to come up with new angles while their ratings collapse. Union Rags, who's tailed Dullahan all week, comes in at 3-to-1 and also figures to get his share of talk.

For all that, though, I think it's more fun to watch the longshots—from plausible winners like Street Life and My Adonis all the way to the stupendously named Guyana Star Dweej. With horse racing's best chance at a hero out of the running, it's worth watching everybody and looking for something, anything, that's interesting to the horse-illiterate among us.

2012 Belmont Stakes: NBC's Ratings Will Tumble Without Triple Crown On The Line

2012-06-09T12:15:06Z

After I'll Have Another's late injury and scratch Friday NBC, already the most beleaguered of America's broadcasting big three, could be in for a world of hurt at the 2012 Belmont Stakes. If the New York Times's numbers are any indication the loss of a popular Triple Crown-contesting horse could cut their expected ratings numbers by more than half, a brutal loss to a network that had probably already begun counting its chickens.

I'll Have Another wasn't just any horse, either--he was a popular one, with the right underdog ethos to attract casual horse-racing viewers to the Triple Crown's final leg, and had soaked up so much coverage that it is hard to imagine anyone tuning in to watch the remaining favorites, Dullahan and Union Rags, let alone the little known horses sitting behind even those Kentucky Derby refugees.

If any horse-racing fans out there were frustrated by the relatively mainstream affect of this year's race, well, no problem: The minute I'll Have Another pulled out, so did most of the audience. I just hope you don't hold a stake in Kabletown.

Of course, behind Street Life lurk the even bigger Belmont Stakes underdogs.
If you're looking for a reason to be okay with I'll Have Another's untimely exit, I would suggest remembering that his owner runs the scammy lender CashCall.
Later additions to the field like My Adonis could surprise a field that looks just about out of surprises.

Belmont Stakes 2012: Post Positions, Start Time, Latest Odds And More

2012-06-09T12:00:42Z

The 2012 Belmont Stakes lost much of its luster when Triple Crown candidate I'll Have Another was pulled out of the race by his trainers due to a leg injury. But for the 11 horses, jockeys and owners still in the race, the Belmont represents a chance for both glory and a massive payday. With I'll Have Another's absence, the odds of victory increased for the rest of the horses, including favorites Dullahan and Paynter.

Here are post positions and odds for today's race:

1. Street Life, 8/1
2. Unstoppable U, 20/1
3. Union Rags, 3/1
4. Atigun, 15/1
5. Dullahan, 9/5
6. Ravelo's Boy, 30/1
7. Five Sixteen, 30/1
8. Guyana Star Dweej, 30/1
9. Paynter, 7/2
10. Optimizer, 15/1
~~11. I'll Have Another~~
12. My Adonis, 15/1

Race date/post time: Saturday, June 9, 5:30 p.m. CT

Race location: Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y.

TV: NBC

Streaming: belmontstakes.com

For more, check out SB Nation's horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come. There, you'll also find a A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.