Restoring Hope

Trainer: Bob Baffert Owner: Gary & Mary West Jockey: Florent Geroux Record: 5-1-1-2

STRENGTHS: He’s moving back to two turns and he’s done his best work to date at the configuration. Restoring Hope won his maiden over a mile and a sixteenth at Santa Anita and one start later ran a good third in his stakes debut in the Wood Memorial. He has been a consistent sort as a rule, has the look of an up-andcoming runner, and could be sitting on a peak race in what will be the third start of his form cycle. Restoring Hope races for his breeders, Mary and Gary West, who campaign West Coast, the champion 3-year-old of 2017. Trainer Bob Baffert has won two runnings of the Belmont Stakes – including the 2015 edition in a Triple Crown sweep with American Pharoah – and has the favorite this year in Justify. Jockey Florent Geroux was the regular pilot for the nowretired Gun Runner, the Horse of the Year in 2017.

WEAKNESSES: He will give up win experience to all of his rivals except Hofburg, with each horse having just one career victory to date. Restoring Hope comes off a double-digit defeat – the first time he’s finished worse than third in a race – when 12th in the Pat Day Mile run in the slop at Churchill Downs. It was the horse’s first start on a wet track and earlier in the week there was rain in the forecast for Saturday.

BETTING VALUE: He figures to offer double-digit odds and might be best used rounding out trifectas and superfectas.

– Mary Rampellini

SIRE: European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway, who died in April, was a prolific sire, sire of sires, and broodmare sire, and has been represented in all of those aspects throughout this Triple Crown series. In fact, fellow Belmont hopeful Free Drop Billy is out of a Giant’s Causeway mare. The late stallion is the sire of eight champions worldwide, including standout European runner Shamardal, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Take Charge Brandi, and Canadian classic winner Irish Mission. In the U.S. classic series, Giant’s Causeway’s best finish is the narrow runnerup effort by Destin in the 2016 Belmont Stakes.

DAM: Symbol of Freedom is an unraced daughter of Tapit, who has Hofburg in the Belmont. The perennial leading stallion is the sire of three Belmont winners in the last four years and also is represented as broodmare sire in this edition by Tenfold. Symbol of Freedom’s stakes-producing dam is a half-sister to Brazilian Group 1 winner Little Baby Bear, Flamingo winner First American, and Indiana Derby winner Dubai Dust.

OUTLOOK: Restoring Hope comes from a family that has Belmont success on both sides, which helps him as he takes a step up in class. – Nicole Russo