JC / Railbird

Belmont Stakes

Belmont Bound

Two down, one to go, and making history won’t be easy. NYRA released a list of 11 potential Belmont Stakes starters shortly after California Chrome won the Preakness Stakes, including Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve and third-place finisher Danza. They’ll be fresh, as will Wicked Strong (fourth in the Derby) and Samraat (fifth). Ride on Curlin and Social Inclusion, second and third in the Preakness, are also possible for the Belmont, as are Commissioner, Intense Holiday, Kid Cruz, and Peter Pan winner Tonalist.

California Chrome was given a Beyer speed figure of 105 and a new career-top TimeformUS figure of 116 for his Preakness performance. He won his sixth straight race with another perfect trip and yet another display of his awesome ability to accelerate turning into the stretch. “He’s a freak of nature,” trainer Bob Baffert told HRTV after his starter, Bayern, finished ninth in the Preakness. “Nobody’s been able to run with him late.” Call it the California kick.

Here’s the Preakness replay (and chart):

“It was a crazy race,” said jockey Victor Espinoza said afterwards, about the tactical decisions he had to make. “I got more tired mentally than physically.”

The Preakness winner and runner-up were reported to be in good shape on Sunday morning. Trainer Art Sherman hasn’t settled on a plan for California Chrome leading into the Belmont, but said the colt may breeze once before.

Posted in Racing on May 18, 2014 / Tagged Belmont Stakes, California Chrome, Preakness Stakes, Speed Figures, Triple Crown

The Last Leg

The way the Preakness Stakes is shaping up, California Chrome won’t meet many of those he beat in the Kentucky Derby again until the Belmont Stakes. That’s the race the Derby winner is most vulnerable, writes Sam Walker:

It is hard to be positive about the Belmont after [his Derby] run. Off such an ideal pace it would have been nice to see that margin of superiority extend ever further to the line, or at least hold true. But the fact is it diminished and over another furlong he might not have won.

The last Belmont quarter can be a killer. Just look at the recent sectional times:

Posted in Racing on May 6, 2014 / Tagged Belmont Stakes, California Chrome, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Triple Crown

Belmont Wrap

If a horse swept the spring classics, writes Tim Layden:

A Triple Crown would be a moment — a beautiful, lingering, memorable moment. But on the Sunday morning following the Belmont in which the Triple Crown drought ended, racing would awaken precisely where it was a month before the Derby.

And that would be okay. We’re onward to the second season, regardless.

Palace Malice earned a Beyer speed figure of 98 for winning the Belmont, continuing the trend of 100 or lower Belmont BSFs that began in 2008.

Nick Kling notes an unintentional tribute in the race’s final time of 2:30.70:

Secretariat’s winning final time of 2:24 was at least 31-lengths better than what Palace Malice did Saturday.

Every quarter of the 2013 Belmont was slower than the one before, with Palace Malice running the final quarter in :27.58 (chart). That’s the slowest Belmont quarter (any quarter) of the past 10 years — the next slowest is the :26.98 final quarter of the 2004 Belmont, won by Birdstone. The fastest final quarter of the past 10 years was recorded in the 2007 edition, when Curlin (Palace Malice’s sire) and Rags to Riches dueled down the stretch in :23.83.

Posted in Racing on June 9, 2013 / Tagged Belmont Stakes, Beyer Speed Figures, Final Fractions, Palace Malice, Triple Crown

Belmont Day Notes

Big Brown at Three Chimneys in May 2012.

Looking back, it’s easy to see Big Brown’s loss in the 2008 Belmont Stakes as the point where the unraveling of IEAH began, and to marvel at how closely that outfit’s rise and fall paralleled the global subprime bubble and 2008 financial collapse, from slick talk and shady deals to ruin. Michael Iavarone and company boasted that they were bringing Wall Street to the racetrack, and in the worst way, they succeeded — all that’s left now of their ambitions, as Ryan Goldberg reports in his detailed, must-read story on Deadspin, is an empty equine hospital and a decrepit sign honoring Big Brown outside what was trainer Rick Dutrow’s Aqueduct barn. The horse, at least, is living the high life of a stud at Three Chimneys Farm, which has “all the charm of a quaint, leafy village, but with the perks of an executive suite” (via).

Turning to happier Belmont memories, what a remarkable moment:

We asked Chenery and Turcotte to watch the 1973 Belmont together. As the video played, as Chick Anderson’s legendary race call began, as the pair saw the timeless race unfold again, with Secretariat shooting up a gap near the rail, Turcotte told his former owner that he could feel the big horse’s heartbeat during the race, that he could feel the horse’s rhythmic breathing through his legs.

Hello Race Fans picks for Belmont day are up. Good luck, everyone!

Posted in Racing on June 8, 2013 / Tagged Belmont Park, Belmont Stakes, Big Brown, Breeding Farms, IEAH, Secretariat, Triple Crown