Belmont handle takes predictable drop
Handle on this year’s Belmont Stakes was nowhere near normal, but there was nothing nearly normal about this year’s Belmont Stakes.
Matt HegartyJun 20, 2020
Handle on this year’s Belmont Stakes was nowhere near normal, but there was nothing nearly normal about this year’s Belmont Stakes.
A Triple Crown season like no other in the history of the sport began with a New York-bred, Tiz the Law, drawing off to a popular and totally dominant 3 3/4-length victory over Dr Post in the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes in front of an eerily deserted grandstand Saturday at Belmont Park. Max Player finished another 1 1/2 lengths farther back in third. Tiz the Law is trained by Barclay Tagg, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Funny Cide in 2003 only to lose his bid for a Triple Crown when finishing third in the Belmont.
In less than an hour on Saturday, trainer Neil Drysdale’s year started looking a whole lot brighter. First he sent out the comebacking Toinette to a victory in the Grade 3 Wilshire at Santa Anita, then he settled in and watched Oleksandra rally from last to first to beat the boys in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jaipur Stakes for turf sprinters at Belmont Park.
Decorated Invader asserted his class edge in a major way Saturday at Belmont Park, laying closer to the pace than usual, then finding another gear along the inside in the stretch to win the Grade 2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes.
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No Parole easily passed his class and distance test by cruising to a front-running 3 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Woody Stephens Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park.
For two of the principal partners in Sackatoga Stable, a global pandemic may keep them apart but it won't keep them from partying while they watch from afar as their New York-bred Tiz the Law competes in Saturday's $1 million Belmont Stakes, a race to be run without fans or owners in attendance.
While handicapper Marcus Hersh is not, per sé, against Tiz the Law in the Belmont, he just can't quite get fully behind him at what I expect to be odds-on favoritism.
Casual and Gamine both have raced just twice, neither in a stakes, yet the way in which they have won all their starts makes them appear as the formidable talent against five fillies with stakes experience in the Grade 1, $300,000 Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Belmont Park.
In the era of COVID-19 where everyday life everywhere has been impacted, Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown series certainly has a different look. Two weeks after the Triple Crown would have concluded with the Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles, the series kicks off Saturday with the $1 million Belmont now at a shortened 1 1/8 miles. Instead of being the last leg of a five-week sprint, it's the first leg of a 15-week marathon with the Kentucky Derby rescheduled for Sept. 5 and the Preakness four weeks later on Oct. 3.
Trainer John Servis hopes the public won't have to wait until late Saturday afternoon to see a legitimate Kentucky Derby prospect.