Cheered on by fans wearing yellow foam crowns instead of the Egyptian headdresses that greeted American Pharoah in 2015, Justify won the Belmont Stakes in emphatic fashion on Saturday to earn a crown of his own. Some may believe it is not as golden as American Pharoah’s, but it is a crown nonetheless.

With a white blaze, a sweeping stride and an unblemished record, Justify came to the site where Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought and, guided by the same trainer, took his own shot at history.

Ridden by the 52-year-old ironman Mike Smith, Justify did not disappoint the crowd of about 90,000 as he quickly went to the lead and stayed there, despite a pack of contenders closing in behind him, to capture the 150th Belmont Stakes by a length and three-quarters and become the 13th Triple Crown winner.