Tacitus is tops at draw
Colt is the morning-line favorite with 9-5 odds; War of Will 2nd choice
The fifth-floor dining area called Foxwoods at Citi Field was doing double duty Tuesday night. The main event, as it always is, was New York Mets baseball. On this night, the Mets were playing the San Francisco Giants, and there were more than a few of the locals walking through Foxwoods wearing blue and orange.
The room was shared with the New York Racing Association. For the second straight year, NYRA held the post position draw for the Belmont Stakes with the Mets supplying the backdrop.
“Is the Belmont Stakes this weekend?” one Met fan wearing a retro Jerry Koosman jersey said to a pal as he walked past the NYRA set.
Yes it is. It certainly doesn’t have the fanfare of last year when Justify came to the Big Apple in search of a Triple Crown, which, of course, he won. Things were a lot more low key.
When the draw was done, many of the horsemen in attendance stuck around to watch some baseball.
“Oh yeah, I’m rooting for the Mets,” said trainer Dale Romans, whose Everfast was one of 10 horses entered in the Grade I, $1.5 million Belmont, which will be run Saturday at the demanding distance of 11/2 miles. “I love Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Are they still playing?”
Before heading to provided
seats inside Citi Field, the NYRA party went about the business of assigning post positions and morning-line odds for the Belmont, the final of three Triple Crown races. The morning-line favorite is Tacitus, who was last seen running third in the Kentucky Derby on May 4. Tacitus is 9-5.
Second choice went to the Mark Casse-trained War of Will, who is coming off a victory in the Preakness two weeks ago. War of Will is the only horse that will run in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. War of Will is 2-1, according to NYRA linesmaker David Aragona.
“I thought he would be the favorite for the Belmont,” Casse said with a shrug after the draw.
But he could understand why Tacitus was named the horse to beat. Since running in the Derby, trainer Bill Mott has been able to rest the big gray colt.
Tacitus has won two of three starts this season, the most impressive being the Grade II Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 6. He will be ridden by Jose Ortiz, who has been on his back for all five of his career starts.
“He has done very good, has trained quite well,” Mott said of the colt since the Derby. “He came out of the Derby showing good energy and he has moved well. If everything goes well from now until Belmont day, I would be surprised if he would not be a factor.”
In the first two legs of the Triple Crown, War of Will drew the rail. This time, he and jockey Tyler Gaffalione will start from post position nine. Tacitus will be in post position 10.
Japanese bred Master Fencer, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby, is the 8-1 third choice in the wagering. The rest of the seven horses in the field all have double digit odds.
Bourbon War, who was a disappointing eighth in the Preakness in his last start, is 12-1 on the morning line, as is Everfast, who was second in the Preakness at odds of 29-1. Trainer Mark Hennig will take the blinkers off of Bourbon War after it did him no good in the Preakness.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Belmont three times, has two horses in this year’s race, both long shots. He will saddle Intrepid Heart, who was third in the Peter Pan at Belmont May 11, and Spinoff, who was not a factor in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 18th.
Intrepid Heart is 10-1 on the morning line and Spinoff is 15-1.