SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After watching Mindframe stick his head in front of Dornoch in early stretch, one couldn’t blame trainer Todd Pletcher, owner Mike Repole, and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for thinking they were on their way to winning  Saturday’s historic, first-ever Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Unfortunately, the two intangibles they feared the most coming into the race – his inexperience and the added distance – likely wound up proving the difference between what would have been a memorable victory and a most frustrating defeat. To their credit, all three handled the disappointment with class in the aftermath of coming so very close to orchestrating the remarkable accomplishment of winning the final leg of the Triple Crown with a horse that came into the race with only two previous starts on his resume. “I thought he ran super, he just got a little green in the stretch,” Pletcher said immediately after the race. “Irad felt he lost focus for a moment, and to his credit, when he angled him back inside where he could see Dornoch, he kind of re-engaged, but ran out of time.” Pletcher, like most observers, believed if Mindframe had kept a straighter course through midstretch, the final outcome could have been different. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “Sometimes when they’re that far apart it’s hard to get a gauge on where he was compared to Dornoch, although I felt like he had the momentum at that point. But it was all the things that we were concerned about, just his third start, first time at this distance, first time he’s really been challenged, that came into play.” Despite coming out second best, Pletcher and the rest of the team have plenty of reason to be optimistic heading into the second half of the season. “We’re very proud of the horse, very proud of his effort,” Pletcher said. “For him to do that in only his third start speaks volumes about his quality and we look forward to going on to more big races. He has every right to improve off this race, and right now the Travers would be the goal. What we do in between is the question.” Repole admitted he never takes defeat well, but echoed Pletcher’s sentiments when it came to Mindframe’s performance Saturday. “It was an incredible effort,” Repole enthused. “To be honest, I thought we had it won at the three-eighths pole the way he was moving. But give credit to the winner. I can’t even say he [Mindframe] would have won it even if he’d kept a straight course because we don’t really know how much Dornoch had left. We knew we were asking our horse a lot, and he ran his eyeballs out. I’ve never been prouder with a second in my life. Although I can watch the replay 100 times and he’s going to finish second every time. I can’t change that.” Ortiz said Mindframe took him a little by surprise when he ducked out suddenly after appearing to have the edge on Dornoch approaching the eighth pole. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “I hit him once left-handed and he didn’t do anything, but when I hit him a second time he reacted and came out,” said Ortiz, who had ridden Mindframe to easy wins in each of his first two starts and orchestrated a perfect stalking trip from his outside post in the Belmont. “It took a little time to correct him. Then I hit him right-handed, and he came back and he kept trying. That was great. I’m very proud of and happy with my horse for running the way he did in only his third start. But we congratulate the connections of the winner and turn the page. Although I am very confident this horse will be heard from again.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.