WinStar Farm's Drosselmeyer gave Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his first win in a Triple Crown race, wearing down pacesetter First Dude and holding off a late charge from Fly Down for a 13-1 upset in the $1 million Belmont Stakes under Mike Smith June 5 at Belmont Park.

It was the first Belmont win in his 13th attempt for fellow Hall of Famer Smith, who guided the son of Distorted Humor to a three-quarters of a length score for his first stakes victory. The final time for the 1 1/2-mile third leg of the Triple Crown was 2:31.57 over a fast track. A crowd of 45,243 came out on a hot, steamy day in Elmont, N.Y., to watch the 142nd running of the race.

Drosselmeyer, who began his career racing on turf, was still eligible for a non-winners of two allowance race entering the Belmont. Fourth in the Risen Star and third in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, the chestnut colt fell short of the necessary graded earnings to make the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. Instead of racing in the May 15 Preakness, Mott decided to ship his charge to Belmont, where he finished a distant runner-up to Fly Down in the May 8 Dwyer Stakes.

But the 12-furlong Belmont suited Drosselmeyer better. He raced mid-pack in the field of 12 for much of the first mile, racing alongside Fly Down while First Dude set the pace as expected. First Dude outhustled Interactif to the first turn under Ramon Dominguez and led for nearly all of the grueling race. First Dude, the Preakness runner-up, took the field through splits of :24.15, :49.19, 1:14.94, and 1:40.25