Belmont Stakes 2022 results: Mo Donegal pulls off late stride to defeat favorite We the People

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Mo Donegal won the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday night, beating out Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike and closing out the third and final leg of the Triple Crown season.

We the People, ​​whose ownership group includes celebrity chef Bobby Flay, was the favorite heading into the notoriously long race which tests competitors' speed and endurance on the mile-and-a-half-long track, which has come to be known as the "test of a champion."

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. celebrates after Mo Donegal (6) won the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June 11, 2022, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.  (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

After maintaining the lead for most of the race, We the People fell behind as Skippylongstocking and Mo Donegal began closing. 

Mo Donegal finished the race in 2 minutes, 28.28 seconds, ahead of Nest and Skippylongstocking, giving trainer Todd Pletcher his sixth victory in the Triple Crown race and his fourth at the Belmont Stakes. 

KENTUCKY DERBY 2022 RESULTS: RICH STRIKE PULLS OFF INCREDIBLE UPSET IN FIRST LEG OF TRIPLE CROWN

"The one thing I told Irad is be patient," Pletcher said of jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. "I think you have the best last quarter of any horse in the race."

Rich Strike stood a slim chance of winning the Belmont Stakes, even after skipping Preakness to rest up. Had he won, Rich Strike would’ve been the first horse since 1995 to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont but not the Preakness. He finished in sixth place. 

"I think we just made a tactical error," trainer Eric Reed said after the race.

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