NEW YORK -- The two Hall of Fame jockeys were just about nose to nose as their horses hit the middle of the final turn of the Belmont Stakes. Gary Stevens, aboard Preakness winner Oxbow, was going to relinquish the lead to the hard-charging Palace Malice, and he knew it. He glanced over to his right and looked at good friend Mike Smith and told him: "You go on with him big boy, youre moving better than me." Was he ever. Palace Malice seized the lead with a quarter-mile to go Saturday in the final leg of the Triple Crown and ran off to a 3 1/4-length victory over Oxbow at Belmont Park, with Kentucky Derby winner Orb another 1 3/4 lengths back in third. "Mike rode a superb race," Stevens said. "Midway around the turn, I said, Well maybe. But I have ridden long enough to know that he (Oxbow) was going to walk home. To finish second, I am really surprised." Palace Malice, who came into the race with only one win in seven starts, vindicated trainer Todd Pletchers support of the 3-year-old colt despite a 12th place finish in the Derby. "Its huge. Its huge," Pletcher said about his second Belmont win. "We always felt like he had a big one in him. We were just waiting for it to finally develop. I told (owner) Mr. (Cot) Campbell this horse is training unbelievable. I know hes got a big run, we just need to put it all together." The Belmont concludes a Triple Crown season in which hopes were high that Orb could break the 35-year drought without a sweep of the classics. In fact, its the fourth time in five years each race was won by a different horse. Palace Malice, who skipped the Preakness, covered the 1 1/2 miles in a slow 2:30.70 on a fast track following a 24-hour downpour. A crowd of 47,562 turned out on a warm, sunny afternoon as Tropical Storm Andrea moved out of the area. For the second time during this Triple Crown run, Pletcher sent out five horses. He came up short in the Derby five weeks ago, skipped the Preakness and regrouped, and came through at his home track for an owner who has supported him from the start. "Its the mother of all great moments, Ill tell you that," the 85-year old Campbell said. "Im proud for Dogwood and proud for my partners, and Im proud of Todd, one of the greatest horse trainers of all time." Sent off at odds of 13-1, Palace Malice returned $29.60, $11.20 and $6.70. Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, returned $9.90 and $6.10, and Orb, the 2-1 favourite trained by Shug McGaughey, paid $3.30. "He made a good run around the turn, but we had given up so much," McGaughey said about the colt who was still ninth with a half-mile to go and just could not make up the difference. "I dont think he got tired. He put up a pretty good run to get where he was, and those horses just werent coming back." Incognito was fourth, followed by Revolutionary, the filly Unlimited Budget, Overanalyze, Vyjack, Golden Soul, Will Take Charge, Giant Finish, Midnight Taboo, Freedom Child and Frac Daddy. Golden Soul is owned by Canadian Charles Fipke. Rosie Napravnik, who was aboard Unlimited Budget, became the first female to ride in all three Triple Crown races in the same year. She was trying to become the second female jockey to win a Triple Crown race. Pletchers other Belmont starters were Revolutionary, Unlimited Budget, Overanalyze and Midnight Taboo. All week, Pletcher expressed optimism that Palace Malice was ready to unleash a big effort. On June 2, the son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin put in a blazing 4 furlong workout in 47.40 seconds. Pletcher called it one of the most impressive works hed ever seen. And it carried over to the race and gave the nations leading trainer his second Belmont win (he won the 2007 Belmont with the filly Rags to Riches) to go with his 2010 Derby win with Super Saver. Smith won his second Belmont, having won aboard Drosselmeyer in 2010. "The game plan was mapped out, and it really went according to plan," Smith said. "We were laying third on the outside of Oxbow, like we wanted. At the three-eighths, Gary said, Go on, little brother. ... And we went on it with it, man." The 14-horse field -- the largest since 1996 -- got off to an even start. Frac Daddy and Freedom Child set out for the lead from their inside posts, with Oxbow not far behind. As the field came out of the turn, Oxbow had the lead heading into the long backstretch run. But unlike the Preakness, he had company up front and the pace was a bit quicker. By the time Oxbow reached the far turn, Palace Malice loomed and Orb was beginning to make a run from way back in the pack. And thats when Palace Malice took charge. The only question was whether anyone was going to catch him. Unlike the Derby, Orb could not complete a come from behind victory. He couldnt even reel in the tiring Oxbow. "Its been fun. Ive got no problems with anything, everthings fine with me," McGaughey said. "I just wish we wold have showed a little better performances in the Preakness and the Belmont." Stitched Nike MLB Jerseys .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Nike MLB Jerseys From China . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. http://www.cheapmlbjerseyssigned.com/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. 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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Sam Rogers wasnt intentionally the focal point of Virginia Techs offense early against Virginia on Saturday, but with a couple of early touchdown runs to get the Hokies going, he became one, and he turned an emotional Senior Day into one hell not likely forget.Rogers ran for a career-best 105 yards and two touchdowns and Virginia Tech tuned up for next Saturday nights Atlantic Coast Conference championship showdown against No. 4 Clemson with a 52-10 victory -- their 13th in a row against their state rivals.Were not done yet, first-year Hokies coach Justin Fuente told the crowd after the game.Rogers, one of 13 seniors honored before the game, scored on runs of 8 and 32 yards for the Hokies (9-3, 6-2), whose ticket for the title game was punched when North Carolina lost to North Carolina State on Friday. It will be Virginia Techs first appearance since 2011.Rogers long run came on a between-the-tackles play that didnt set up the way it was supposed to.Everything just got jumbled up in the middle and I just peaked outside, Rogers said. Everyone was still running right, so I ran left.The victory sent Virginia (2-10, 1-7) to its seventh consecutive loss.Jerod Evans threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for Virginia Tech, allowing the junior college transfer to set school single season records with 26 touchdown passes (Tyrod Taylor had 24 in 2010) and 3,752 total yards (Logan Thomas had 3,500 in 2012).Fuente, whose team was going through a walk-through yesterday while the North Carolina game was going on, congratulated his team on earning the trip to Orlando, Florida, next week, and even in his first year at Virginia Tech, said he knew they would remain motivated.In this scenario, I would have been worried about it, but not in this game, he said. This game means too much.Virginia went with a quarterback rotation, sometimes from play to play, and was outgained 579-247.It is a little bit of a different challenge than were obviously used to, said Kurt Benkert, the starter for most of the season who was benched last week after struggling in several games. We felt like we were able to do everything we need to, but we just didnt.dddddddddddd.He finished 9 for 26 for 122 yards with one touchdown. Matt Johns was 4 for 10 for 17 yards and threw two interceptions.I struggled a bit with that, Johns said of the rotation. It was hard to find my rhythm and really get a feel for the game.THE TAKEAWAYVirginia: The Cavaliers have a long way to go to get to the talent level and mindset Bronco Mendenhall expects. Returning Benkert to the field after a series of skittish performances behind shaky protection and benching last week was probably meant to give him something to build on, but the Cavaliers will also have to rebuild their offensive line and replace Taquan Mizzell and Keeon Johnson, two key seniors.Virginia Tech: The Hokies three most recent victories were all by three points and all on the road: at Pittsburgh, at Duke and at Notre Dame. In between, they lost a home game to Georgia Tech in there, so dominating should bolster confidence heading into next weekend.It was good to get back and have a dominant defensive performance, Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster said.RECORDS AND MILESTONESEvans broke Taylors TD pass record on a 39-yard throw to Cam Phillips in the second quarter. ... Evans broke Thomas total yardage record on a 14-yard pass to Isaiah Ford in the first quarter. ... Ford caught four passes and became the 17th player in ACC history with 200 career receptions. Virginias Taquan Mizzell became the 19th Virginia player to rush for 2,000 career yards on an 8-yard run late in the first quarter. ... Mizzell needed six receptions to join Ford in the 200-catch club, but caught just one.HE SAID ITI think this game was a statement game, to tell Clemson that were coming. -- Virginia Tech defense end Ken Ekanem.UP NEXTVirginia Tech will face Clemson in the ACC championship game next Saturday in Orlando, Florida.---More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '