Justify draws No. 1 post for Triple try in Belmont Stakes
NEW YORK – Something Bob Baffert always dreads has come true ahead of the Belmont Stakes: Justify drew the No. 1 post for the colt’s bid to sweep the Triple Crown.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was made the early 4-5 favorite in the 10-horse field for Saturday’s race.
Baffert is not a fan of the inside post for his horses, no matter what the race.
“I never do like to draw the rail, but my horses seem to live in it,” he said Tuesday at Citi Field before throwing out the first pitch at the Orioles-Mets game. “We have it, we can’t change it. We’ll deal with it.”
Justify won the first two legs of the series from the No. 7 post.
He ran on sloppy tracks both times and the forecast for Saturday calls for a 60 percent chance of rain.
This time the No. 7 hole went to Tenfold.
The colt was a fast-closing third in the Preakness and is 12-1 for the Belmont.
Hofburg was made the 9-2 second choice.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the colt finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness.
The only other horses with singledigit odds are Preakness runner-up Bravazo and Vino Rosso, both at 8-1.
Vino Rosso finished ninth in the Derby and didn’t run in the Preakness.
Justify and Bravazo, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, are the only two horses that will have run in all three Triple Crown races. Bravazo was sixth in the Derby and came running late to finish a half-length behind Justify in the Preakness.
Gronkowski is a 12-1 long shot, no doubt attractive odds for his part-owner Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots tight end. He and teammate Tom Brady have wagered together at the Derby in past years.
The Britain-based colt is a newcomer to the Triple Crown trail.
He got sick and missed the Derby and has been waiting to make his U.S. debut in the grueling Belmont.
The field for the 150th Belmont in post position order with jockeys and odds: Justify, Mike Smith, 4-5; Free Drop Billy, Robby Albarado, 30-1; Bravazo, Luis Saez, 8-1; Hofburg, Irad Ortiz Jr., 9-2; Restoring Hope, Florent Geroux, 30-1; Gronkowski, Jose Ortiz, 12-1; Tenfold, Ricardo Santana Jr., 12-1; Vino Rosso, John Velazquez, 8-1; Noble Indy, Javier Castellano, 30-1; Blended Citizen, Kyle Frey, 15-1.