ELMONT, N.Y. – Traffic is back. Curfews have been lifted at bars and restaurants. The Belmont Stakes has been restored to its rightful place – and distance – on the calendar. Everywhere you look in New York these days, there are signs of life returning to normal after 15 months of restrictions and disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID caused the 2020 Belmont to be held as the first leg of the Triple Crown at a shortened 1 1/8 miles and be run before an empty Belmont Park grandstand. This year’s Belmont, worth $1.5 million, will return to 1 1/2 miles in front of an estimated crowd of 11,000 – a third of seated capacity – and cap a series that has had more than its share of drama. That drama continued this week with the confirmation of the medication betamethasone in the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who could face disqualification. This Belmont will lack the drama of a horse going for a Triple Crown. It features just an eight-horse field topped by Kentucky Derby third- and fourth-place finishers Hot Rod Charlie and Essential Quality and the Preakness winner Rombauer, who avoided the Kentucky Derby. The field includes a trio of runners from the barn of Todd Pletcher – Known Agenda, Bourbonic, and Overtook – as well as Derby also-ran Rock Your World and the Japanese-based, Kentucky-bred France Go de Ina. Rombauer will try to become the first horse who did not run in the Kentucky Derby to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes since Pillory in 1922. That year, though, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness were run on the same day. Since 1940, 11 horses have won the Preakness and Belmont after losing the Kentucky Derby. All but Tabasco Cat, in 1994, were divisional champions. :: Get DRF's Betting Strategies for exclusive picks and analysis from our expert handicappers.  Rombauer was held out of the Kentucky Derby by owner John Fradkin, who feared the late-running horse’s style would not suit the race. Medina Spirit led at every call in finishing first in the Derby. In the Preakness, there was more pace and Rombauer inhaled pace prompters Medina Spirit and Midnight Bourbon to win going away. The manner in which he won, and the way in which he’s trained has Michael McCarthy, trainer of Rombauer, confident of a performance as good, if not better, on Saturday. “When he hit the finish line in Baltimore, he definitely did not look like a tiring horse to me,” McCarthy said. “He was putting daylight between the second- and third-place finishers, galloping out well. I think he’s got some room for improvement.” Adding to McCarthy’s faith in Rombauer is his confidence in the colt’s ability to handle the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont. “I’ve always had quite a bit of faith in him,” McCarthy said. “I thought races with added distance, anywhere from a mile and a quarter plus, would be well within his scope.” Rombauer will have a different rider in the Belmont than he had in the Preakness. John Velazquez, who finished first in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness on Medina Spirit, takes over for Flavien Prat, who rode Rombauer to victory in Baltimore. Prior to the Preakness, Prat and his agent, Brad Pegram, had committed to ride Hot Rod Charlie, whom he had ridden to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Hot Rod Charlie figures to be a forward presence, most likely stalking the expected pacesetter Rock Your World. “He shows a tremendous amount of stamina on a daily basis,” said Doug O’Neill, the trainer of Hot Rod Charlie. “Generally, in these kinds of races, the early pace is pretty soft, it’s really a horse that can breathe comfortably and be relaxed early and save themselves for the last part. Charlie shows time and time again he travels like a veteran horse, and he’s just maturing each race. I’d say his maturing is what gives me the confidence we’re going to see a good race.” :: Belmont Stakes 2021: Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and exclusive picks and plays so you can bet with confidence.  O’Neill has not had much luck in the Belmont having to scratch Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another the day before the 2012 Belmont. He also had to pull the plug on a planned start for 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. On Wednesday, Hot Rod Charlie sprung his right front shoe while galloping on the main track, but there were no issues, O’Neill said. Hot Rod Charlie galloped on the training track Thursday because the main track was sealed due to expected rains. Essential Quality, the 2020 2-year-old champion, suffered his first defeat in six starts when he finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby. He and Rock Your World bumped at the break, costing both early position. Essential Quality recovered quicker than Rock Your World and, with a wide trip, finished fourth, beaten one length. “He’s definitely good enough to win a Triple Crown race,” said Brad Cox, the trainer of Essential Quality. “I think he showed that in the Derby. He put in a winning effort.” Rock Your World, sent off the second choice in the Kentucky Derby after winning the Santa Anita Derby, was basically eliminated at the break after that bump. John Sadler, the trainer of Rock Your World, brought the horse back to California and liked the way he trained enough to try the Belmont. He’s confident in the colt’s ability to get the 1 1/2 miles. “Just the way he travels and his breeding and how he handles himself, I think he’s a natural stayer,” Sadler said. “I know I said that before the last one, but we got eliminated at the start.” :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, past performances, analysis, and more Known Agenda, the Florida Derby winner who finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby, looks to be the best of Pletcher’s three Belmont runners. He had a bit of a difficult trip in the Kentucky Derby. The five weeks between starts follows a similar pattern of Pletcher’s three previous Belmont Stakes winners. “I like the way he’s been training, I think he’s sitting on his best race,” Pletcher said. “We just need to see if we can get the right trip with the right kind of pace scenario.” Bourbonic, 13th in the Kentucky Derby, and Overtook, third in the Peter Pan, both have the pedigree to suggest they can stay 1 1/2 miles. Pletcher acknowledges both would have to run better than they have to date. He is adding blinkers to Overtook at the suggestion of Velazquez, who rode him in the Peter Pan. France Go de Ina figures to be the longest shot in the field. He is chasing a $1 million bonus offered by the New York Racing Association to any Japanese-based horse who wins the Belmont. He is coming off a seventh-place finish in the Preakness. The Belmont will go as race 11 on a 13-race card that begins at 11:35 a.m. Eastern and includes eight Grade 1 stakes in all. Post time for the Belmont, to be broadcast live on NBC, is 6:49 p.m. Saturday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the lower 80s.