NEW YORK - Creator, trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Irad Ortiz, edged Destin at the wire on Saturday to win a scintillating 148th Belmont Stakes.
Creator with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and Destin #1 with jockey Javier Castellano race to the finish during the The 148th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 11, 2016 in Elmont, New York
The 1 1/2-mile race on the sweeping Belmont Park track dubbed "Big Sandy" was as close as they come.
Creator, who went off at odds of 16-1, lived up to his closer's reputation to claim the final leg of US flat racing's Triple Crown by a nose.
The coveted treble wasn't on the line this year. That was a bit of a let-down after American Pharoah became the 12th horse -- and the first in 37 years -- to sweep all three in 2015.
Hopes of a repeat were extinguished when Exaggerator beat Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist in the Preakness Stakes.
Nyquist was held out of the Belmont after developing a fever in late May, robbing the finale of a final showdown between the two.
Exaggerator went off as the 7-5 favorite in the Belmont, the race dubbed the "Test of the Champion."
However, his patented late kick was lacking and he finished 11th in the field of 13.
It was just the fourth time that the Belmont was decided by a nose.
"I was glad to see them put that number up! They came to the wire together," said Asmussen after watching Ortiz bring Creator through the stretch on the outside and overtake the Todd Pletcher-trained Destin.
Lani, the temperamental Japan-based colt trained by Mikio Matsunaga and ridden by Yutaka Take, finished third.