King: Belmont Stakes pace should be legit

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.

Of the five speedy types only longshot Meantime looks to be a need-the-lead type, with the others appearing most comfortable in pressing or stalking roles.

Irish War Cry, drawn in post 7, looks to be the second quickest of the frontrunners, though his connections seem to want him settled and outside horses. So provided they both break on equal terms, I would anticipate Rajiv Maragh will probably elect to let Meantime, in post 9, clear him. Then he will probably place his mount outside that rival, thereby getting the position the horse prefers and avoiding going too quickly with a longshot that figures to back up late.

Japanese invader Epicharis is a bit of a “hidden speed” horse in that his foreign past performance lines do not reflect his speed at early points of call, only in the description of his races that accompany the past performances.

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But in watching videos of his races, he led for all but the final stride of the UAE Derby in Dubai in his most recent start, and even when he hasn’t made the lead in his races, he has often tugged at his rider while in a stalking position. From post 11 he seems speedy enough on his own to not have to be “sent” to be in contention early.

As for Gormley, he flashed more speed last year at 2 and early in his 3-year-old campaign this year before altering to stalking tactics lately. Perhaps in post 3, inside most of the speed, jockey Victor Espinoza will feel inclined to let him come away running, not wanting his mount to eat dirt behind horses.

Last of the mentioned speed horses, Twisted Tom pushed the pace in winning the Frederico Tesio at Laurel, but had previously stalked from the pocket on the fence in winning the Private Terms there.

There is no telling what he might do. He is fresh, not having raced since Apr. 22, which could leave him eager to go, but his jockey Javier Castellano knows he is on a versatile horse that can be placed wherever he wants.

Add this all up and my expectations are for an opening half mile likely falling somewhere between 48.60 seconds to 49.20.

Beyond the four that seem quickest, I’d rank the remaining seven horses in order of their speed in this way: J Boys Echo, Tapwrit, Patch, Multiplier, Senior Investment, Hollywood Handsome, and Lookin At Lee.

Multiplier adds blinkers, but one has to figure that is designed for focus more than speed. This is a horse that has raced in the rear half of the field early in all five starts, so blinkers aren’t going to put him in the pace picture.

With regard to post positions not already discussed, J Boys Echo seemed to benefit most from landing post 4, which should help Robby Albarado to place him more forwardly than he has been racing. He won the Gotham earlier this year after sitting in midpack behind a lively pace.

Meanwhile Patch might have to take the long way around from post 12. He doesn’t have the speed to clear much of the traffic, seemingly like Epicharis, nor is he the type to lag back and angle toward the inside, as a horse like deep closer Lookin At Lee figures to do.