ELMONT, N.Y. - Five weeks after flying through the final furlong to become a Kentucky Derby winner, Orb floundered in the final three-sixteenths of a mile in Saturday's 145th Belmont Stakes, trudging home a well-beaten third behind Palace Malice in the last leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont Park.
Despite having a strong early pace in which to close, Orb couldn't deliver the same scintillating move he made in the Kentucky Derby, and was unable to pass Oxbow, the Preakness winner who was part of the early pace, for second. Orb was beaten five lengths.