Brad Cox-Trained Essential Quality Wins Belmont Stakes

Essential Quality (2), with jockey Luis Saez up, crosses the finish line ahead of Hot Rod Charlie (4), with jockey Flavien Prat up, to win the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on June 5, 2021. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

NEW YORK—Brad Cox insisted he wasn’t sitting around waiting or worrying about whether a disqualification of Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby winner would give him his first victory in a Triple Crown race.

Essential Quality captured the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to make sure Cox wouldn’t need to wait a second longer to be a Triple Crown race-winning trainer.