The 2017 Belmont Stakes features a group of 3-year-olds that are either inconsistent, unproven at the graded stakes level, or a combination of the two. With Wednesday morning's defection of last year's juvenile champion Classic Empire, favoritism for the Belmont is unknown; Irish War Cry was made the tepid 7-2 morning-line favorite, but it wouldn't be a stunner to see other horses also vie for favoritism as post time approaches.
Considering the extremely wide-open nature of the race, with so many unknown factors coming into play not the least of which being the 1 1/2-mile distance, it almost behooves one to look for a price.
Even following the announcement Wednesday morning that juvenile champion Classic Empire would not enter the Belmont Stakes due to a foot abscess, there still remains ample speed for a race at 1 ½ miles. Five of the 12 entrants are horses that prefer to race up close -- Meantime, Irish War Cry, Epicharis, Gormley, and Twisted Tom -- likely assuring no speed horse will get away with stealing the Belmont.
The third leg of the Triple Crown looms as an anticlimax, with the winners of the first two legs declining to participate, the undefeated Peter Pan winner taking a pass (despite having only three career starts behind him), and the news that 2016 juvenile male champ and Preakness runner-up Classic Empire won't start because of a foot issue.
The 1 1/2-mile distance of the Belmont Stakes will be uncharted territory for all 12 horses entered in Saturday's race, and most of them will never stare down a race of that length again. The Kentucky Derby poses a similar test at 1 1/4 miles five weeks earlier, but history has shown that the winners of the Derby and Belmont can be very different types of horses.
For all the accomplishments in his remarkable career, including victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Classic, 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence also lives in racing notoriety for one of his losses – an eight-length defeat at the hands of archrival Easy Goer in the Belmont Stakes, extending the Triple Crown drought of the time.
Irish War Cry is a horse that is very good at his best – he has twice won graded stakes this year with matching 101 Beyer Speed Figures – and very bad when he is not, as reflected by a loss of 21 lengths in the Fountain of Youth to go along with his Kentucky Derby thumping. But if he runs his race, the Belmont is his race for the taking.
The withdrawal of standout Classic Empire has turned the Belmont Stakes into a scramble. Perhaps, it would have been chaotic anyway. After all, seven of the last nine Belmont winners paid more than $20. Bettors shopping for a price will find plenty of choices, including an improving colt whose form might be better than it appears.
For horseplayers, the unfortunate news Wednesday morning that Classic Empire would be forced to miss Saturday's Belmont Stakes due to a foot abscess cut two ways.
Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky., had a productive Triple Crown prep season with its 3-year-old crop, and it put the storied operation in a position to have at least one representative in this year's Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.
