with a winning time of 2:28.52. A slight surge brought California Chrome into a dead heat for fourth with Wicked Strong, but left him 1.5 lengths behind the winner. Medal Count placed third, a length back from Tonalist. Most of the crowd had hoped to see California Chrome win and sat quietly when the race ended. Winning jockey Joel Rosario said the win was bittersweet as he had been rooting for California Chrome to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist had last raced in the Peter Pan Stakes on May 10, a race he won at Belmont Park, and was making just his fifth career start. He became the first horse to win the Peter Pan/Belmont double since A.P. Indy in 1992. California Chrome's loss extended the longest Triple Crown drought in history. He became the twelfth straight horse to fail in the Belmont after winning the first two legs of the contest. (A thirteenth horse, I’ll Have Another, did not compete in the Belmont due to injury.) Espinoza felt that something wasn't right with California Chrome when the horse didn't break boldly, and he held the horse back a bit instead of going to the lead. Midway through the race he took the horse to the outside to give him running room, but the horse did not unleash his usual burst of speed. "As soon as he came out of the gate, he wasn't the same", Espinoza remarked after the race. Initial post-race analysts thought that California Chrome had stepped on his own feet, or "grabbed a quarter" in equestrian parlance, as he had some blood on his right front heel. Further review of the video and photos of the race showed that the horse next to him, Matterhorn, accidentally stepped on California Chrome as both horses broke from the gate. As a result, he had run the race with a "chunk" of tissue taken out of his right front heel, and also had a cut on his tendon that was not serious. Trainer Art Sherman said that both injuries would heal, probably in two or three weeks, but after that, he wanted to turn out California Chrome on pasture for a rest period of six or seven weeks, adding "Hey listen, we'll be here to fight another day, I'm just happy he's all in one piece." After the race, California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn said the horses who had