Belmont Stakes field currently stands at 10
Headed by Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, who was purposely kept out of the Preakness Stakes last Saturday at Pimlico, a field of 10 is currently under consideration for the June 11 Belmont Stakes, the final leg of what has been an historically unusual Triple Crown series.
How unusual? With Preakness winner Early Voting passing the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, this will mark the first time since 1954 that the Derby winner missed the Preakness the same year that the Preakness winner missed the Belmont.
In 1954, Determine won the Derby, then returned to California, missing both the Preakness and the Belmont. Hasty Road won the Preakness after finishing third to Determine in the Derby, but then Hasty Road was taken off the Triple Crown trail, too. That left the Belmont to High Gun, who had not competed in the Derby nor the Preakness, but more than made up for it the second half of the year, as he went on to be named the champion 3-year-old male of 1954.
With debate reignited this year over the spacing of the Triple Crown despite the series having been swept twice in the last eight years, it’s worth noting that in 1954 the Preakness was run three weeks after the Derby, instead of the now-usual two, so even that can’t be cited as a factor.
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Rich Strike is following in the footsteps of Gato Del Sol, who 40 years ago was the last Derby winner healthy enough to run in the Preakness who skipped the race to await the Belmont. (Mandaloun was not yet the Derby winner last year when he skipped the Preakness and Belmont.) Gato Del Sol finished second in the 1982 Belmont to the runaway winner, Conquistador Cielo.
Rich Strike won the Derby at odds of 80-1, the second-longest price in Derby history. He is still in Kentucky, the base of trainer Eric Reed, but is scheduled to ship to New York at the end of this week.
Two others – Barber Road and Mo Donegal – are following the itinerary of Rich Strike in that they were kept out of the Preakness after running in the Derby to have five weeks spacing into the Belmont. Barber Road, trained by John Ortiz, was sixth in the Derby. Mo Donegal, who won the Wood Memorial in his final prep before the Derby, was fifth at Churchill Downs.
Mo Donegal is trained by Todd Pletcher, a three-time Belmont winner who also has the filly Nest, second most recently in the Kentucky Oaks, under consideration for the Belmont. Pletcher won the Belmont for the first time in 2007 with Rags to Riches, the last filly to win the Belmont.
Rodolphe Brisset is the only other trainer who currently has two potential contenders for the Belmont. The most prominent is We the People, who parlayed an off track and front-running tactics into a runaway victory May 14 in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. Brisset also could run Kuchar, who won an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Sunday. Kuchar was second in the Oaklawn Stakes April 23 in his lone prior stakes appearance.
Golden Glider, second in the Peter Pan, is also slated for the Belmont. He is trained by Mark Casse, who won the Belmont in 2019 with Sir Winston.
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Creative Minister, third in the Preakness for 2002 Belmont-winning trainer Kenny McPeek, and Skippylongstocking, who was fifth in the Preakness for Saffie Joseph Jr., both are scheduled to run in the final two legs of the Triple Crown after missing the Derby.
Ethereal Road, whose scratch on Derby Eve enabled Rich Strike to draw in from the also-eligible list, is also under consideration for the Belmont following a victory at Pimlico on Saturday in the Sir Barton Stakes. His trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, has won the Belmont four times, the last time in 2000 with Commendable.
“He stepped up big time,” Lukas said of Ethereal Road, whom he said was “possible” for the Belmont.
Lukas said he would monitor the prospective field over the next couple of weeks. Others might be prudent to do so, too. There’s plenty of room to jump into the pool, and the water isn’t that deep.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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154th Belmont Stakes, Grade 1, $1.5 million, 1 1/2 miles, June 11 |
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| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Last Race |
| Barber Road | John Ortiz | Reylu Gutierrez | Ky Derby, 6th |
| Creative Minister | Kenny McPeek | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Preakness, 3rd |
| Ethereal Road | D. Wayne Lukas | Luis Saez | Sir Barton, 1st |
| Golden Glider | Mark Casse | Dylan Davis | Peter Pan, 2nd |
| Kuchar | Rodolphe Brisset | Florent Geroux | CD alw, 1st |
| Mo Donegal | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Ky Derby, 5th |
| Nest | Todd Pletcher | undecided | Ky Oaks, 2nd |
| Rich Strike | Eric Reed | Sonny Leon | Ky Derby, 1st |
| Skippylongstocking | Saffie Joseph Jr. | Junior Alvarado | Preakness, 5th |
| We the People | Rodolphe Brisset | Flavien Prat | Peter Pan, 1st |