Point Given's Belmont bliss

Point Given was streets ahead of the field on Saturday

Preakness winner Point Given added the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, destroying a high-class field in the process.

Kentucky Derby-winner Monarchos finished third, behind A P Valentine.

Point Given, a powerful chestnut colt, moved into the lead early on the final turn and then turned the 2.4km (1.5-mile) Belmont into a procession.

His time of two minutes, 26.4 seconds tied him with Risen Star and Affirmed for the fourth fastest time in Belmont history.

This horse should have 'Triple Crown Winner' next to his name

  Gary Stevens
Point Given jockey

Only Secretariat, Easy Goer and A P Indy ran faster.

A P Valentine's second-place finish gave trainer Nick Zito his fifth runnerup finish in 11 Belmonts, with no victories. A P Valentine also was second in the Preakness.

"I'll always wonder what could have been," said winning jockey Gary Stevens. "This horse should have 'Triple Crown Winner' next to his name."

Belated joy for Baffert

Point Given, however, finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite.

He rebounded from that disappointment to win the Preakness and then dominated the Belmont, winning by 12 and a quarter lengths, the seventh biggest margin in the race's 133-year history.

It was a bittersweet victory for Point Given trainer Bob Baffert.

Baffert won his first Belmont in his fifth try, but two of those defeats were particularly galling.

The highly fancied pair Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998 finished second in their bids to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978 and only the twelfth in history.