Creative Minister

Trainer: Kenny McPeek Owner:

Fern Circle Stables and Back Racing LLC Jockey:

Brian Hernandez Jr. Best Beyer: 100 Record: 4-2-1-1

STRENGTHS: He’s fast and in good form. By virtue of his 100 Beyer in the Preakness, Creative Minister is one of only three horses in the field to have reached the triple-digit plateau. He earned that number finishing third to two of the crop’s best horses and while rallying against the grain of a speed-favoring track. Horses with tactical speed usually do well in the Belmont, and Creative Minister was able to stay relatively close to the pace when saving ground on the backstretch of the Preakness. He won his maiden over a sloppy Keeneland track and appears to have no issues with wet going. Trainer Kenny McPeek won the Belmont 20 years ago with longshot Sarava, a horse also wheeling back on three weeks’ rest. Sarava won the Sir Barton on Preakness Saturday at Pimlico.

WEAKNESSES: Creative Minister doesn’t have a great deal of experience and will have to race the demanding 1 1/2 miles off only four starts. It will be interesting to see whether he has enough bottom to last the distance. Although he skipped the Kentucky Derby, Creative Minister has kept a Triple Crown schedule. He won an allowance race on the Derby undercard, competed in the Preakness, and wheels right back in the Belmont. A maiden as late as the Keeneland spring meet, he’s done a great deal in a short amount of time. There’s a chance he’ll regress off some hard efforts while facing fresher opponents.

BETTING VALUE: A lightly raced colt with a solid pedigree, Creative Minister has yet to take a backward step on the Beyer scale and still retains upside potential. He was 10-1 in the Preakness but deserves to be shorter in the Belmont and looks like a strong cont ender. – Dan Illman

SIRE: Grade 1 winner Creative Cause, also a player this spring as the broodmare sire of Blue Grass winner and Derby third-place finisher Zandon, was responsible for some of the best American Triple Crown finishes for his own sire, the late European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway, who is generally regarded as a source of stamina. After finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby, Creative Cause was third in the 2012 Preakness. Creative Cause is a full brother to Destin, who was second by a nose in the 2017 Belmont and then confirmed his long-winded nature by winning the Grade 2 Marathon Stakes at 1 3/4 miles. Creative Cause is the sire of Pavel, winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at 1 1/8 miles and multiple Grade 1-placed at 1 1/4 miles.

DAM: Tamboz, a full sister to 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tapizar, is the dam of Wood Memorial runner-up Battalion Runner, as well as Grade 1-placed Dolder Grand, graded stakesplaced Oceanwave. Tamboz is from the extended family of Eclipse Award champion Untapable, and Grade 1 winners Cuvee, Olympio, Paddy O’Prado, and Pyro.

OUTLOOK: There is plenty of stamina on both sides of this family, but there’s also an intriguing dose of middle-distance-type speed with the likes of Tapizar and Pyro present. Ideally, Creative Minister will have inherited both stamina and some tactical abilities.

– Nicole Russo