Joseph O'Brien's Irish raider Baron Samedi plundered the $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup on Friday night.
O'Brien's runner won the Group 2 contest by two and three quarter lengths in the hands of jockey John Velazquez.
The 6/5 favourite has been a revelation for O'Brien since being gelded, having previously been beaten in two handicaps at a lowly mark of 65.
A victory in Group 2 win in the Prix du Conseil de Paris at Longchamp capped off last season's rise before he started this campaign with a win in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan in April.
And racing on a rain-softened turf course at Belmont, he was always prominent in the hands of his Puerto Rican rider before going away for a cosy success.
“Baron Samedi is a very good horse and Johnny [Velazquez] gave him a great ride," said O'Brien.
“He hadn't been that far before, but he had handled that kind of track before, so we weren't worried about the rain. We just worried about them taking the race off the turf."
It was a near perfect evening for O'Brien as his other runner at the meeting, Thundering Nights, was agonisingly beaten a nose in the Grade 2 New York Stakes.
Also ridden by Velazquez, Thundering Nights was closing all the way to the line but couldn't reel in the race favourite Mean Mary.
