This Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational drew a big field of 13 including five European imports trying to duplicate the feat of 2021 Belmont Derby winner Bolshoi Ballet (IRE).
Among that group Stone Age (IRE) may be the first to look at as the colt won the Group 3 Derby Trial Stakes in May before a sixth of 17 finish in the G1 Cazoo Derby last month. Nations Pride (IRE) finished eighth in the same race, three lengths behind Stone Age (IRE) following four straight wins going back to last October. Royal Patronage (FR) finished 16th in the Derby but just prior to that finished second in the G2 Dante Stakes. The European contingent also includes Machete (FR), who finished second in the Group 3 Prix de Guiche in May before a seventh of 15 finish in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club Stakes last month. Although bred in Kentucky, Implementation has run seven times in Europe with his best effort being a third place finish, just a quarter of a length behind Machete (FR) in the Prix du Guiche.
Stolen Base leads the North American based contingent, having earned his biggest win to date when victorious in the G2 American Turf Stakes in May. Emmanuel and Napoleonic War ran similarly well when first and second, respectively, in the G2 Pennine Ridge Stakes on the Belmont turf last month. Sy Dog won the G3 Transylvania Stakes in April before a third place effort behind Stolen Base in the American Turf and has potential to improve, as does third place Pennine Ridge finisher Limited Liability. Grand Sonata won the G3 Kitten's Joy Stakes on turf in February before a runner-up effort behind Sy Dog in the Transylvania and a third place finish in the Audubon Stakes in June and is yet another proven competitive at this level. Classic Causeway tries turf for the first time in the Belmont Derby after eight races on dirt, including wins in the G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes and G2 Tampa Bay Derby earlier this year. Last but certainly not least, Tiz the Bomb returns to turf after four races on other surfaces, with one of his best efforts coming last fall on the grass when second of 13 in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
Although only won by European horses making their first starts in North America in two of the last 10 years, this year's Belmont Derby Invitational lends itself to being won by one of the five European invaders this year for a number of reasons. First and foremost, none of the horses based in the states have ever run the 1 1/4-mile distance on turf and only one horse, Classic Causeway, has ever run the distance, having finished 11th in this year's Kentucky Derby.
With that in mind, Stone Age (IRE) gets top billing in this year's race based on the fact that he's following an identical pattern to last year's winner, Bolshoi Ballet (IRE), who was also trained by Aiden O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. Like Bolshoi Ballet (IRE), Stone Age IRE) last ran in the Cazoo Derby, finishing sixth of 17 compared to seventh of 11 for Bolshoi Ballet (IRE). Also like Bolshoi Ballet (IRE), Stone Age (IRE) won the Derby Trial Stakes prior to running in the Cazoo Derby. That effort earned a 112 
Equibase® Speed Figure, which is the second highest earned by any horse in the field behind the 117 figure Machete (FR) earned when seventh in his most recent race. Previously, Stone Age (IRE) earned a career-best 113 figure when second in the Criterium de Saint Cloud Stakes last October. The Derby Trial, as well as the race Stone Age (IRE) won prior to that, were both the same distance in a counter-clockwise fashion as the Belmont Derby. Therefore repeating either of those two efforts is good enough to win this race.
Royal Patronage (FR) was much further back in the Cazoo Derby compared to Stone Age (Ire) but his effort just prior to that, in May, was as good as the race Stone Age (IRE) ran that same month. That was a second of eight finish in the Dante Stakes, where the colt found a path with three furlongs left to run and closed well for second behind Desert Crown, who came back to win the Cazoo Derby. Last September, Royal Patronage (FR) won the very important Royal Lodge Stakes as well, with those two efforts earning 110 and 108 figures on par with the 110 and 112 figures Stone Age (IRE) has earned this year. He also earned a 113 figure when eighth of 15 in the Two Thousand Guineas this past April. The Dante Stakes was run at the distance of a mile and five-sixteenths, so we know the distance of the Belmont Derby will be no problem. Getting local jockey Joel Rosario, Royal Patronage (FR) should be taken very seriously as a contender.
Nations Pride (IRE) showed a lot of promise and talent in his second start as a 3-year-old in April when drawing off to win the Newmarket Stakes with a 106 figure. That was his second straight win at the distance of the Belmont Derby. He then finished eighth in the Cazoo Derby (with a 108 figure), three lengths behind Stone Age (IRE) and well ahead of Royal Patronage (FR). Getting the services of world class jockey Frankie Dettori, it must be noted Nations Pride (IRE) is trained by Charles Appleby, who has a phenomenal record when shipping horses from Europe to race in North America. According to a Race Lens query, in the last five years, Appleby has a record of 13-6-2 in 22 races, including 3-3-2 in eight races on the New York Circuit consisting of Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. Except for that eighth place effort in his most recent race, Nations Pride (IRE) was never worse than second in five races and after a runner-up debut last summer won four in a row, each by wide margins. That provides enough reason to believe this colt could also be very competitive in the Belmont Derby.
Machete (FR) gets honorable mention as he comes into this race off a career-best effort even though seventh in the Prix du Jockey Club Stakes last month on the same weekend as the Cazoo Derby. That earned a 117 figure because of the high class nature of the race, and like the Dante Stakes in which Royal Patronage (FR) finished second, the Prix du Jockey Club was run at the longer distance of a mile and five-sixteenths, so this colt could also give a good account of himself.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Classic Causeway (104), Emmanuel (99), Grand Sonata (94), Implementation (104), Limited Liability (96), Napoleonic War (97), Stolen Base (101), Sy Dog (97) and Tiz the Bomb (109).
Win contenders:
Stone Age (IRE)
Royal Patronage (FR)
Nations Pride (IRE)
Belmont Derby Invitational – Grade 1
Race 9 at Belmont Park
Saturday July 9 – Post Time 5:12 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Quarter on Turf
Three Year Olds
Purse: $1 Million
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