The past several weeks' three major defections from the 3-year-old season – Charlatan, Nadal, and Maxfield – may have turned this Saturday's Belmont Stakes into a smaller field, but connections were still quick to express their excitement for the the non-traditional first leg of the Triple Crown during an NTRA conference call Monday afternoon.
“My original thought was that it could potentially be a race that would oversubscribe, but now it looks like it's going to be more in the neighborhood of an eight or a nine-horse field, max,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who plans to enter the pair of Dr. Post and Farmington Road. “That does surprise me a little bit, and I think that's partly due to some bad luck for some horses and also the uncertainty due to the timing of everything.”
The changing schedule of the Triple Crown, caused by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, saw the Kentucky Derby pushed back from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September. The Preakness was rescheduled for the first Saturday in October, and the Belmont was pushed back three weeks from its originally-scheduled date, and is now the first leg of the classic series.
Rather than running the Belmont at the traditional 1 1/2-mile distance, the New York Racing Association made the decision to shorten it to nine furlongs, turning the “Test of the Champion” into a one-turn affair.
“I had spoken to people three or four weeks ago, and said that in many ways I felt I thought the Belmont was going to be this year's Kentucky Derby, because its the first time that the best horses in training were going to be meeting each other, the West Coast and East Coast and in-between,” echoed Jack Knowlton, co-owner of likely favorite Tiz the Law. “Clearly because of the injuries in Bob's two horses, and now with Maxfield out, there isn't the star power that we all expected.
“But, I feel good about the race being a mile and an eighth. We know that Tiz the Law can handle Belmont, he trains on it, he won the G1 Champagne there. I think the configuration, with a long run down the backside, Manny (Franco's) gonna have an opportunity to put him where he wants to put him. He'll be able to make the run that he's made in all four of his wins, just kind of stalking a little bit off the pace, then moving forward around the turn and winning the race in the stretch.”
It is not yet clear whether any owners will be able to attend the Belmont Stakes, which Knowlton especially acknowledged was a new challenge. His Sackatoga Stable group became famous when they won the 2003 Kentucky Derby with Funny Cide, after riding several school busses from their hotel to Churchill Downs with a 53-person entourage.
This time around, the majority of the Sackatoga group plans to watch the Belmont Stakes from a restaurant patio in Saratoga.
“Funny Cide was a once in a lifetime for an outfit like ours,” Knowlton said. “To have it happen again, it looks like lightning really has struck twice… so the school bus will be reserved for Louisville, and we're hopeful we will be able to have owners and a number of fans at Churchill.”
Meanwhile, Knowlton has all the faith in the world in veteran trainer Barclay Tagg.
“Barclay's been in the game for 50 years, and he's got all the experience you need,” Knowlton said. “He doesn't get horses like Funny Cide or Tiz the Law very often, but when he does, he makes the most of it.”
Looking to upset the favorite will be a recent allowance winner trained by Mark Casse, who also took time to speak to media during Monday's teleconference. The 3-year-old son of Tapit broke his maiden at Saratoga back in August, and Casse immediately started thinking about bigger and better things.
“After he broke his maiden, I told (owner) Mrs. Weber, 'I think this colt could win the Breeders' Cup this fall, but it's going to be a bit of a rush, and we're going to have to run him two turns in his next start,'” Casse recalled.
His first two-turn race, the Breeders' Futurity, was a bit of a disaster when he missed the start, rushed up and fought with jockey Tyler Gaffalione, and faded to finish 10th. Trying again in the listed Street Sense Stakes, Tap It To Win was gashed up at the start and again finished at the rear of the field.
“He couldn't hardly walk for a couple weeks after, and it turns out a piece of bone actually died, so we had to operate on him,” Casse explained. After taking the winter off, Tap It To Win “came back with a vengeance, and with a much better attitude. He's always shown, from the time we got him, that he was something exceptional.”
He won his first start off the layoff, and his second start on June 4 resulted in a five-length romp at Belmont Park.
“Johnny (Velazquez, jockey) is the one that kind of convinced me for sure that the Belmont is the way to go.” Casse said. “He felt like he finished with something left, and he said he galloped out very strong.”
The Belmont will be the colt's third race off the layoff, and Tap It To Win could be poised for a career-best performance.
Meanwhile, Pletcher's pair of Farmington Road and Dr Post, both sired by Quality Road, are also preparing well for Saturday's big test. The lightly-raced Dr Post got a “good education” last out when he won the listed Unbridled Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Pletcher said, and should be close enough to the pace to make his presence felt.
Farmington Road hasn't shown the same success rate on the track as his stablemate, and Pletcher admitted that the 1 1/2-mile distance might have been more his style.
“He's come close to a breakthrough performance, and he would appreciate a good honest pace up front,” Pletcher said. “On paper, it looks like it should have solid pace. Because of the one-turn dimension, horses lay a little closer to the pack because the first turn doesn't spread them out… that's to the benefit of Farmington Road because he won't be so far out of contention early.”
Also expected for Saturday's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes are: Jungle Runner, Max Player, Modernist, Pnuematic, and Sole Volante.
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