The 157th edition of the Belmont Stakes is set to run Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
The $2 million-dollar, Grade 1 race moved to the historic upstate New York track last year when Belmont Park began a remodeling project that continues this year.
That means that the Belmont Stakes, traditionally held at 1 ½ miles on the Big Sandy, will for the second year in a row be shortened to 1 ¼ miles and held on the dirt track at Saratoga.
Regardless of the distance or venue, the Belmont Stakes is still one of the sport’s Bold Print events, and even though a Triple Crown bid is not on the line this year, the race has some serious star appeal.
Here’s a look at the field:
1. HILL ROAD [ML 10-1] Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr. Trainer: Chad Brown. He ended up short of qualifying points for the Derby and instead was redirected toward a start in the Belmont Stakes by his connections. In his prep for the Belmont, HILL ROAD gave his best effort yet, storming down the stretch to take the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan Stakes by three-quarters of a length. This QUALITY ROAD colt is bred to run all day and could be reaching peak form at just the right time to make some noise in the Belmont Stakes.
2. SOVEREIGNTY [ML 2-1] Jockey: Junior Alvarado. Trainer: Bill Mott. The Kentucky Derby Winner (who passed on the Preakness) is well-rested and ready for his Derby encore performance. SOVEREIGNTY has raced on the dirt track at Saratoga previously. That came in his career debut last summer when he made up a lot of ground late to finish 4th in a six-furlong sprint. In the Belmont, look for Alvarado to keep SOVEREIGNTY a bit closer to the early pace than he did in the Derby as he faces a smaller field and can’t afford to let any early speed get out of reach.
3. RODRIGUEZ [ML 6-1] Jockey: Mike Smith. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Had to withdraw from the KD due to a foot bruise. RODRIGUEZ has since resumed a normal training schedule and should be ready to build on his Winning effort in the Wood Memorial– after being away for more than two months. RODRIGUEZ will probably go off as the fourth Post-Time betting choice behind the top three Derby finishers. He could lead this field a long way come Saturday. Must be respected.
4. UNCAGED [ML 30-1] Jockey: Luis Saez. Trainer: Todd Pletcher In the Peter Pan he stalked the pace early in the two-turn test, racing four to five lengths behind the early leader while saving ground, but did not rally and actually tired in the stretch run to end up in 6th, 10 ¼ lengths behind the Winner. His two Wins came on wet tracks, so UNCAGED may receive some extra attention at the betting window as a longshot contender- if it ends up raining on Belmont Stakes Day. Otherwise, based on his previous work, he will be hard pressed to hit the board even in a short field.
5. CRUDO [ML 15-1] Jockey: John Velazquez. Trainer: Todd Pletcher. He enters the Belmont Stakes with only three career starts, all coming after February 8th of this year. CRUDO has untapped potential, and he’ll need to continue improving to have a shot at finishing top three here, in this small, but high-quality field. At best, his front-running style should provide pace pressure to RODRIGUEZ.
6. BAEZA [ML 4-1] Jockey: Flavien Prat. Trainer: John Shirreffs. He was on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Derby but drew in after some main-field scratches, and he ran well in the Derby slop finishing 3rd. BAEZA returned to Santa Anita Park after the Derby and has trained well for a planned Belmont start, and he could be sitting on a breakthrough effort in his third attempt in a Grade 1 race.
7. JOURNALISM [ML8-5] Jockey: Umberto Rispoli. Trainer: Michael McCarthy. He is set to face his KD conqueror and also Derby 3rd-place finisher BAEZA (who was only a neck behind him) in the 1 ¼-mile Belmont and he’ll be spotting both of those standouts an extra two weeks of rest. Based on the training patterns of Triple Crown horses in recent years, such a quick turnaround would (usually) make one consider the Preakness Winner as being vulnerable- going up against two well-rested and high-class foes. Well, this is an exceptional racehorse, and if he shows no signs of fatigue and is able to maintain his current form JOURNALISM will be very tough to beat in the Belmont.
8. HEART OF HONOR [ML 30-1] Jockey: Saffie Osborne. Trainer: Jamie Osborne. Outran his 20-1 odds in the Preakness, finishing 5th in a field of nine. He will need an even bigger effort here to find the board. But it’s worth noting, that HEART OF HONOR had not finished worse than 2nd in six prior starts, and that includes two runner-up finishes, one by a head and the other by a nose in U.A.E. Stakes races held at 1 1/8 miles.
The Belmont Stakes is listed as race 13 on a massive card of 14, with a scheduled Post Time of 7:05.
Best of luck however you play it.
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