As the field for the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes edged into the starting gate on Saturday, anyone who has been enthralled with this sport and everyone who loves thoroughbreds was hoping — no, pleading — for something good to happen.
Just a little bit. For the past five weeks, horse racing’s annual turn in the consciousness of American sports fans had hopscotched to one miserable outcome after another, prompting open debate about whether the sport should have its social license renewed.
The Belmont Stakes, by comparison, was mostly a fairy tale.
A gray named Arcangelo thundered down the stretch of the track on Long Island to make history: His trainer, Jena Antonucci, became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, a series that spans more than a century.
From the clubhouse, Antonucci watched her rider, Javier Castellano, dive into the rail around the far turn and slingshot into the stretch as if Arcangelo were tethered to a magnetic electric train track. The horse held off a late run by Forte and gave Castellano his first Belmont victory in 14 tries. Castellano, a Hall of Famer, won his first Kentucky Derby five weeks ago aboard Mage on his 16th attempt.
“He wanted to run today and I had to be patient with him,” Castellano said after the race before…
