Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Royal Majesty just needs clean trip in Belmont Derby

Belmont at the Big A | Race 6 | Post Time 3:08 p.m. (ET)

Kentucky Derby starter Endlessly (#5) figures to go favored in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby based primarily on his synthetic efforts along the Derby trail earlier this season. His 115 TimeformUS Speed Figure earned in the Jeff Ruby Steaks is clearly the highest number in this field. The colt didn’t run as fast when he was competing on turf as a 2-year-old, but he did win 3 of his 4 starts on the surface, the only loss coming in the Breeders’ Cup. It’s likely that he’s just improved overall since then, but you do have to find out whether he’s capable of running quite as fast on turf while taking a pretty short price.

Trikari (#4) shares common ownership with the favorite and earned his way here when causing a 47-1 upset in the American Turf in May. He got an absolutely perfect trip that day, saving all the ground along the rail. He still has to prove he can reproduce that form outside of Churchill going a longer distance.

Three of the five runners in this field exit the Pennine Ridge. Both winner Legend of Time (#1) and runner-up White Palomino (#2) worked out very good trips. Legend of Time can be tricky to ride, having shown a tendency to get keen early in his races. Racing too freely without cover was his undoing in the American Turf, but William Buick should be familiar with his quirks.

My top pick is the Pennine Ridge third-place finisher Royal Majesty (#3). He saved ground for much of his trip, but he got passed by Legend of Time, who stuck to the rail in upper stretch, whereas Royal Majesty angled out to search for room. He briefly got stymied in traffic behind rivals and had to shift out a couple of times before finally finding a clear path when it was too late. I like the progression this horse has displayed through the spring, and believe he can take another step forward stretching out to today’s 1 3/16 miles.