150TH BELMONT STAKES FIELD 1. Justify (4-5 odds)
POST TIME: 6:37 P.M. ET SATURDAY TV: 4 ET, NBC (EARLIER RACES ON NBCSN AT 2 ET)
Owners: China Horse Club International, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing and WinStar Farm
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Record: 5-0-0 in five starts Notable: Attempting to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner, Justify has yet to take a backward step in his career. He didn’t produce a scintillating performance in the Preakness Stakes, but he has held his weight and trained well in the three weeks since. The biggest question might be if he’s suited to the 11⁄ 2- mile distance and whether Smith can relax him early in the race, particularly from the No. 1 post position. Owner: Albaugh Family Stables Trainer: Dale Romans
Jockey: Robby Albarado
Record: 2-3-2 in nine starts Notable: Considered one of the top
2-year-olds last fall when he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, he’s yet to run back to that form at 3. Though his
16th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby inspires no confidence in his ability to compete at this level, he’s back in the Belmont largely due to his staminaheavy bloodlines as the son of 2012 winner Union Rags. Owner: Calumet Farm
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Luis Saez
Record: 3-2-1 in 10 starts
Notable: Had the Preakness been 50 yards longer, he’d likely have won the race. That second-place performance gave Lukas enough encouragement to bring Bravazo back for the Belmont, where his closing kick could be effective in the long stretch run. This seems to be an improving horse, who also ran a good sixth in the Derby despite a rough trip.
4. Hofburg (9-2)
Owner: Juddmonte Farms
Trainer: Bill Mott
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Record: 1-1-0 in four starts
Notable: A number of sharp handicappers jumped on his bandwagon at the Derby, but he lost all chance when he was bumped at the start and shuffled to the back of the pack, encountering more traffic trouble before rallying to a seventh-place finish. He has just one win in four starts, but he’s a talented colt whose sire, Tapit, has produced three of the last four Belmont Stakes winners.
5. Restoring Hope (30-1)
Owners: Gary and Mary West
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Record: 1-1-2 in five starts Notable: Baffert’s second trainee is a significant long shot with one win in five starts, but his owners wanted to take a shot in the Belmont. His last start, a 12th-place finish in the Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard, is a complete throwout as he didn’t handle the sloppy track at Churchill Downs.
6. Gronkowski (12-1)
Owner: Phoenix Thoroughbreds Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Record: 4-1-0 in six starts
Notable: He won four in a row in Britain, all at the 1-mile distance, before being transferred to New York-based trainer Brown to prepare for the Belmont. Because of his namesake’s popularity, Gronkowski is almost assuredly going to be overbet. But it would be an interesting story if Rob Gronkowski, who now owns a small piece of the horse, gets to fiesta in the winner’s circle.
7. Tenfold (12-1)
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds Trainer: Steve Asmussen Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.
Record: 2-0-1 in four starts
Notable: The Belmont is one of the few races where pedigree still matters, and his bloodlines strongly suggest he’ll get the distance with former Horse of the Year Curlin on the top side and Tapit in his mother’s family. Given his inexperience with just four starts, he ran an impressive, closing third in the Preakness and should move forward off that race. Asmussen won the Belmont in
2016 with Creator.
8. Vino Rosso (8-1)
Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Record: 3-0-1 in six starts
Notable: Didn’t really make an impact in the Derby, finishing ninth, but has followed the Pletcher model of skipping the Preakness and returning to his home track to prepare for this race. If he runs back to his Wood Memorial win in April, he’ll have a chance. But that race, so far, stands out as the anomaly in a mediocre career thus far against stakes competition.
9. Noble Indy (30-1)
Owners: WinStar Farm and Repole Stable Trainer: Todd Pletcher Jockey: Javier Castellano Record: 3-0-1 in five starts Notable: Co-owner Mike Repole, a New Yorker who is also partners in Vino Rosso, wants to win the Belmont more than any other race. Typically a horse with early speed, he didn’t seem to like the track in the Derby, as he ended up settling in about 5 lengths off the lead before fading to 17th. He’ll be a likely candidate to set the pace this time.
10. Blended Citizen (15-1)
Owners: Sayjay Racing, Greg Hall, Brooke Hubbard
Trainer: Doug O’Neill
Jockey: Kyle Frey
Record: 3-0-2 in 10 starts
Notable: Had he qualified for the Kentucky Derby (he was 21st on the points list), he might have been an interesting long shot. But the colt instead won the Grade 3 Peter Pan with a stout stretch rally May 12 as a prep for the Belmont. O’Neill won the Kentucky Derby with I’ll Have Another and Nyquist.