WAY TO GO, MO!
Favorite pulls, claims Belmont Stakes in a romp
Triple Crown veteran Todd Pletcher had simple advice Saturday for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. before the Belmont Stakes.
“Be patient,” Pletcher said. “I think you have the best last quarter of any horse in the race.” Sometimes, less is Mo. Mo Donegal pulled away down the home stretch and held off filly Nest to win the Belmont Stakes, giving Pletcher a 1-2 finish and his sixth Triple Crown victory, including four at Belmont Park, in Elmont, L.I., on the outskirts of New York City.
“To be honest with you, we were a little confident going into the race today,” Donegal Racing CEO and co-owner Jerry Crawford said. “When he turned for home, I was like, forget about it. I know Todd thought he could get a strong last quarter mile, and he sure did.”
Mo Donegal rounded the 1 ¹/2-mile track in 2 minutes, 28.28 seconds, ahead of Nest and Skippy long stocking. Pletcher, who live son Long Island, added another Belmont title, following wins with Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017.
Rich Strike, a stunning Kentucky Derby winner at 80-1 odds, was sixth.
Mo Donegal beat a wide-open, eight-horse field without a clear favorite — We the People, a monster in the mud, opened at 2-1 amid a rainy forecast but reached 7-2 by race time as showers held off.
Mo Donegal entered the gate the betting favorite at 5-2. We the People led for much of the race, but Mo Donegal and Ortiz took charge coming out of the final turn.
The 3-year-old colt paid $7.20, $3.80 and $3. Nest — who nearly became Pletcher’s second filly to win Belmont after Rags to Riches — paid $5.30 and $4.10. Skippy long stocking returned $5.60 to show. We the People finished fourth.
Rich Striker owner Rick Dawson and trainer Eric Reed held the Kentucky Derby winner out of the Preakness with an eye on Belmont, the first healthy horse to skip Pimlico after winning the Triple Crown’s first even since 1985.
Reed said the team encouraged jockey Sonny Leon to try pushing Rich Strike from the outside, but the horse kept trying to get back inside — from where he made a late charge past 19 horses to win at Churchill Downs. Rich Strike spent much of the race in last and couldn’t recover.
“I think we just made a tactical error,” Reed said.
Just like Rich Strike, Mo Donegal was at the back of the pack at the Derby, but the colt didn’t have enough kick at Churchill Downs. He found it Saturday, winning the 154th running of the $1.5 million race.
Mo Donegal made a winner out of co-owner Mike Repole, a local entrepreneur known around the track as “Mike from Queens.” Repole also co-owns Nest.
“This has been a dream I’ve had for 40 years,” Repole said. “This is New York’s race.”
It’s the fourth straight year the Triple Crown races were won by three different horses, a first for the sport since 1926-29.
The race marked a return to form for Belmont itself after the 2020 Stakes were closed to the public due to the pandemic and the 2021 event was limited to 11,238 spectators by virus restrictions.