Sheldon boasts previous success at distance in turf route
An interesting Thursday program begins with the first 2-year-old maiden dash at Belmont’s spring-summer meet, followed by a trio of $77,000 allowance or optional-claiming races with preliminary conditions.
Distance is the key to race 5, where seven turf-meant runners are scheduled to go 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf.
The distance is tailor-made for Sheldon, who came to hand for Jimmy Toner when stretched out to 1 1/4 miles on this course last spring. Sheldon came from off the pace to beat maidens last June, and DRF Formulator’s incremental pace feature reveals he ran progressively faster quarters of 25.23, 24.69, 24.08, and 23.42 seconds before drawing away through a last fraction in 24.16 seconds.
“He’s a nice colt,” said Toner. “The question was always waiting for the distance with him. I knew he would be a nice colt once he stretched out.”
In his first try against winners, Sheldon ran into traffic in the stretch of the inaugural Belmont Derby, and rallied when clear to finish a respectable fifth. That effort propelled him into the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes. He was a dozen lengths behind early, and again encountered some trouble en route to a third-place finish.
“He ran a good race after he got checked twice in the stretch,” Toner recalled. “I think he could have been right there otherwise.”
Sheldon got the wrong setup to conclude his season, when he chased the early pace over a boggy course in the 1 1/8-mile Hill Prince.
His primary rivals are Belisarius, a beaten favorite in all six of his starts since being imported to the United States; Powerful Instinct, who has been as far as 1 1/8 miles just once in 28 starts; and Make a Decision, who makes his first start of the year and first as a gelding.
KEY CONTENDERS
Sheldon (Last 3 Beyers: 81-88-87)
◗ The stretch runner will need some pace up front, which should be supplied by Roman Approval, who is fresh off a wire-to-wire score at Gulfstream Park going 1 1/16 miles.
◗ He gets a switch back to Junior Alvarado, who was aboard for the maiden victory on this course.
Belisarius (Last 3 Beyers: 85-81-83)
◗ His last five races have been at longer distances ranging from 1 7/16 miles to 1 1/2 miles.
◗ In addition to six losses as the favorite in the U.S., he was beaten as the chalk three times in his native Ireland.