Belmont Post Positions
| PP | Horse | Jockey | ML |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Brown | Desormeaux | 2-5 |
| 2 | Guadacanal | Castellano | 50-1 |
| 3 | Macho Again | Gomez | 20-1 |
| 4 | Denis of Cork | Albarado | 12-1 |
| 5 | Casino Drive | Prado | 7-2 |
| 6 | Da’ Tara | Garcia | 30-1 |
| 7 | Tale of Ekati | Coa | 20-1 |
| 8 | Anak Nakal | Leparoux | 30-1 |
| 9 | Ready’s Echo | Velazquez | 30-1 |
| 10 | Icabad Crane | Rose | 20-1 |
A surprise entrant, favored Big Brown in post one — intrigue!
Big Brown Preps
Big Brown breezed five furlongs in 1:00.03, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40, shortly after the renovation break at Belmont this morning. A crowd of onlookers observed the move, which was done without a patch on Big Brown’s cracked front hoof (final repairs are planned for Friday) and elicited predictable praise from trainer Rick Dutrow — “We’re very happy with things right now” (Blood-Horse). Questions and concerns burble elsewhere, adding intrigue to Saturday’s foregone conclusion. NYRA expects to draw a field of nine on Wednesday for the Belmont Stakes, but don’t look for an afternoon post position draw show with Jerry Bailey, connection interviews, or swooshy graphics on ESPN2. In keeping with NYRA’s oddly low-key approach to promoting a possibly historic race, the draw is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and will appear on ESPNEWS sans hoopla.
Still the Standard
Secretariat, that is. (Forgive the self-promotional link, it’s not every day I get quoted in the company of such luminaries as William Nack and Ed Bowen.)
He Might Be Right
… on both counts. Said trainer Rick Dutrow in today’s NTRA teleconference:
I have been trying to be humble and modest … I don’t feel like I’m talking big, I feel like I’m talking facts.
And earlier in the call:
I feel like it’s a foregone conclusion. I expect [Big Brown] to win this race.
I will give Dutrow this: He is charismatic, his confidence is compelling. And he hasn’t been wrong about Big Brown yet.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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