Lewises celebrate Belmont victory

Danette Goulet

Until this weekend, the Belmont Stakes brought Lido Isle couple Bob and

Beverly Lewis nothing but misery.

Twice in the last three years, the elusive Triple Crown of horse racing

has slipped through their fingers at that final leg.

But their Belmont bad luck finally ended Saturday when their colt,

Commendable, captured the race -- and its $600,000 first-place prize.

Although the couple did not have a shot at the Triple Crown this year,

the victory was still sweet.

“Commendable won, very commandingly, by a length and a half,” said Bob

Lewis. “It was a very elusive win for us -- one that has deprived us of

winning the Triple Crown twice. We were very thrilled to win it on

Saturday.”

Taking first place earned 60% of the Belmont’s $1-million purse. That was

$600,000 for the Lewises before the jockey and trainers’ cuts, and

Commendable’s many expenses, Lewis said.

Commendable’s win came as a great surprise to many after he finished 17th

out of 19 horses in the Kentucky Derby in May, and then did not run in

the Preakness a few weeks later.

Seeing one of the Lewises’ horses win the race, however, was not

surprising.

Bob Lewis estimates that in the last 10 years, the couple has entered

horses in 130 to 150 races each year.

“We win about 20% of those, so we’ve won in the vicinity of 300 races in

the last 10 years,” Lewis said.

After this weekend’s triumph, they have won six Triple Crown races --

twice at the Kentucky Derby, three times at The Preakness and now,

finally, one at the Belmont Stakes.

Another big winner for the Lewises was Timber Country, a colt of which

they are part owners, who won the Dubai World Cup.

“We have had exceeding good fortune,” Lewis said.

While their quest for the Triple Crown may be behind them for this year,

there are many more million-dollar races to shoot for.

“Now we have to look forward to the Churchill Downs Breeders Cup series

in November,” Bob Lewis said.