FLUSHING, N.Y. – There will be truth in advertising on Saturday at Belmont Park, as Justify, the number one 3-year-old in the land, will wear saddle cloth number one when he breaks from the rail in the Belmont Stakes in his bid to sweep the Triple Crown.

Justify, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and unbeaten in five starts, drew the rail when posts were drawn Tuesday night at Citi Field for the 150th Belmont Stakes. Nine others were entered in the race, but all eyes will be in Justify as he attempts to become the 13th Triple Crown winner.

CARLSBAD, Calif. – In some ways, Julie Krone’s life today is just as it was 25 years ago, when she helped mold youngsters over a period of months, in concert with others who had the same goal, to see it pay off with a brilliant performance when it counted most.

It used to be with horses. Krone won 3,704 races, none more significant than her 1993 Belmont Stakes victory aboard Colonial Affair, to this day the only Triple Crown race won by a female jockey.

All five entities in the ownership of Triple Crown hopeful Justify along with trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith have pledged to donate a percentage of any earnings from Saturday's Belmont Stakes to the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Blended Citizen has taken a circuitous route to the Belmont Stakes that includes three starts on turf, two on synthetic tracks, and being stranded on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Derby.

His trainer, Doug O’Neill, who will be saddling his first Belmont Stakes starter, has taken an even more unusual path to the race.

ELMONT, N.Y. - There were no surprises at entry time on Tuesday at Belmont Park, as 10 horses were entered in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Posts are to be drawn Tuesday night at Citi Field prior to the Mets game against the Orioles.

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ELMONT, N.Y. – Not the mile and a half, not the pressure of the Belmont Stakes. No, for jockeys who have swept the Triple Crown, the waiting for that final leg is the hardest part.

“You count down the days, the hours, the minutes,” Victor Espinoza, who was aboard American Pharoah in 2015, said on a national teleconference earlier this week.

“After the Preakness, those were the longest three weeks of my riding career,” said Steve Cauthen, who piloted Affirmed in 1978.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Four measly starts.

That’s the entire racing career for both Hofburg and Tenfold, two Belmont Stakes starters with many supporters who believe one of them might derail Justify’s bid to become America’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

One would think the marathon 1 1/2-mile Belmont rewards experience, seasoning, an extensive racing history. It doesn’t.

Since Justify will try to do on Saturday what only one horse has done before, his attempt to become a Triple Crown winner while still unbeaten boasts an added layer of historical zest.

Seattle Slew did it in 1977, when he made the 109th Belmont Stakes his ninth victory in nine starts. Winning the Triple Crown needs no embellishment, but reaching such heights while cultivating a perfect record always has set Slew apart.

Others, though, have come very close.

ELMONT, N.Y. – There was a moment not long after American Pharoah won the Triple Crown three years ago when trainer Bob Baffert and his long-time assistant Jim Barnes were alone back at the barn, starting to savor what they had just accomplished.

“What do we do now?” Baffert said to Barnes.

“Like Robert Redford in ‘The Candidate,’ ” Baffert said recently, referring to the 1972 movie in which Redford’s character is voted senator, but wonders, in the final scene, what comes next. “He won. And then it’s, what now?”

Triple Crown hero American Pharoah was a once-in-a-lifetime horse. But most horse people are quick to tell you that horses are the best teachers, and American Pharoah also proved a learning experience for the team that is now on the brink of a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment – for the second time – with unbeaten Justify.

“We learned a lot from Pharoah,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “The great horses, they’ll really teach you a lot.”