Belmont 2018 finish order, reactions on every contender

The 2018 Belmont Stakes will go down in history because of Justify's victory, but its results, particularly with Gronkowski rallying for second in his first domestic start, will be talked about for more than the Triple Crown feat.

Here's a sampling of comments from connections to all 10 contenders following Saturday's race with their margins to Justify:

1. Justify (1 3/4 lengths)

"I mean, the whole time he was just so professional," said jockey Mike Smith. "He really was. He was taking the crowd in well, all the noise in the gate. I was worried because the crowd is screaming right in front of you there. Being in the 1 hole, he was standing so good, almost too good. I was a bit worried with my gate, and he reassured me, said, we're okay, he's standing good, trust me, he'll break, and he probably broke better today than he has out of the other two, to be honest with you. He left there today very, very good, which was very important."

"But turning for home," added trainer Bob Baffert, "you could just tell this horse, he just finds -- the great ones, they just find another gear. I really didn't get excited probably until the last 16th of a mile where I knew he was home free and started to really enjoy the race."

2. Gronkowski (-1 3/4)

"I'm really proud of my horse," said trainer Chad Brown. "The horse ran a great race. He had a lot of things against him, and we talked about that all week. It was his first time running on dirt, his first time going a mile and a half and he was coming off the layoff. I'm really proud of the way of the way he ran on dirt with so many things going against him. Then he misses the break, and then there's a soft pace.

"...My thought turning for home was that he had a shot to get him if Justify was vulnerable at a mile and a half. Even though the fractions were soft for a horse of his caliber, still he had to go a mile and a half. And I thought maybe, because I could see Gronkowski flying, but he just couldn't get to that horse."

3. Hofburg (3 1/2)

"There was no pace and nobody put any pressure on the horse and he kind of walked the dog going around there," said trainer Bill Mott. "They were going slow and he said he didn't want to make some crazy move down the backside to go join him, which probably wouldn't have made any sense. Our horse came running. He ran well. I mean, for not having any pace, he finished up very well."

"I was right there on the far turn, but slow fractions helped the winner," added jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. "I expected a little more pace early on. I thought I would catch though on the far turn but he's a champion and you knew he would run well. I went for it, made my move at the quarter pole, but I couldn't catch him."

4. Vino Rosso (3 3/4)

"I made a premature run to see if I could get there," said jockey John Velazquez. "It wasn't enough."

"I thought Vino Rosso ran well," added trainer Todd Pletcher. "Johnny felt like he needed to move a little earlier than he really wanted to because there were pretty soft fractions up front. He felt like if he was going to have any chance he had to go a little sooner than he wanted to and thought that may have compromised his finish a little bit."

5. Tenfold (7 1/4)

"Justify, God bless," said trainer Steve Asmussen. "A Triple Crown winner. Good for him."

6. Bravazo (8 1/2)

"He was running well to the three-eighths pole, but then when I started to ask him," said jockey Luis Saez, "he was very tired."

7. Free Drop Billy (9 1/2)

"My horse ran well -- no excuses," said trainer Dale Romans. "He just got outrun by these good horses. We'll regroup and do something later. We'll figure it out. He needs to try the grass sooner or later.

"...It was a monster race. It's a great honor to be a part of it. The noise from the crowd out front was shaking this building. It was incredible. It's nice to be a part of something special.

"...I thought my horse ran his race. I'm proud of him. That was a spectacular performance, what Bob did with this horse. There can't be anything greater for the sport."

8. Restoring Hope (38 3/4)

"Restoring Hope, he has natural speed," Baffert said, "and his only chance was to be up near the lead in the first wave because he's like a one-dimensional horse. But he was getting a little -- they were getting a little rank -- I think they were going pretty fast. But he's not a horse to come off the -- take back. All his races were decent where he had to be up close. We were just giving him a chance.

9. Blended Citizen (51 1/4)

"My horse broke really well," said jockey Kyle Frey. "I had him in a really good spot. We got to the three-eighths pole and that's when the dirt started shifting to the right and back. Too much dirt for what he's used to. I don't think he was tired, I just think he got discouraged. Another day."

10. Noble Indy (54)

"Noble Indy didn't behave great in the paddock," Pletcher said. "He got a little bit anxious in the post parade but none of the race went as we wanted it to go. We wanted to get away from the gate, get involved early to be close to the pace. He didn't break great. He broke out a little bit, and basically Javier (Castellano) decided he was going to something different than we set out to do and the horse didn't' respond very well."