Belmont Stakes

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Justify

Free Drop Billy Bravazo Hofburg Restoring Hope Gronkowski Tenfold

Vino Rosso Noble Indy Blended Citizen Morning odds and Tapit horses have done very well in the Belmont (winning three of the past four). This horse is very lightly raced. He didn’t run in the Preakness. He’s certainly going to be fresh. And he’s got one of the best jockeys on him in Irad Ortiz, who knows this course as good as anybody.”

5. Restoring Hope, Smith, 30-1

“This is (Justify trainer) Bob Baffert’s second horse in here. He ran on an off track his last race and was terrible. He’d be a huge price if he wins, but I’m not going to use him.”

6. Gronkowski, Ortiz, 12-1

“He’s had no races on a normal track. They’ve all been on synthetic or turf, and he’s won four out of six. He picks up Chad Brown, one of the premier trainers in the country. That helps, but I still don’t know what this horse will do. I wouldn’t throw him out totally.”

7. Tenfold, Espinoza, 12-1

“This horse is owned by the Winchells, who own Tapit. Tenfold’s got a combination of Curlin and Tapit in its breeding. I liked his race in the Preakness. I like his trainer (Steven) Asmussen, and I think he’s getting better. This is a horse that I think has a shot to beat Justify.”

8. Vino Rosso, Velazquez, 8-1

“I don’t see any reason why this horse may not be in the mix. You’ve got jockey John Velazquez winning at an almost 30 percent clip at Belmont this year and Todd Pletcher winning at a 24 percent clip as a trainer there. So this combination is always lethal.”

9. Noble Indy, Castellano, 30-1

“One of his owners also owns a piece of Justify. I’m not sure how they’ll approach the race. If you’re looking for a good payoff horse, you might consider looking at the top three or four. He’s got Pletcher as his trainer and Javier Castellano as his jock. His Derby was terrible, but if you throw that race out, everything else looks good.”

10. Blended Citizen, Frey, 15-1

“He’s the only horse in the race that has won a race at Belmont Park, and that was in the Peter Pan on

May 12. He just doesn’t look the part to me as a Belmont winner.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.