After giving California Chrome his due and selecting him in the Preakness, it’s now time to give history its due and seek out some value in trying to beat the odds-on favorite in the Belmont Stakes.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
Immediately after he won the Preakness, I wondered if California Chrome would be able to produce yet another top effort in the Belmont Stakes. California Chrome seemed to have a more demanding race at Pimlico than he did when he won the Kentucky Derby. He was asked to move earlier than he might have preferred when Social Inclusion forced his hand early on the far turn, his patented brush at the top of the stretch didn’t seem quite as sharp as it did at Churchill Downs or in the Santa Anita Derby, and he had to work to turn back Ride On Curlin.
If this were an ordinary race, it would be hard to see past the 3-5 morning-line favorite. But the Belmont Stakes has devolved into one of the most extraordinarily random races on the American racing calendar. Conventional wisdom seldom applies; numerous horses who look great on paper go down in flames, some abysmally, behind hard-to-fathom winners who did little else before or after.
At the risk of seeming like Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch – with a heart two sizes too small – my wagering strategy in the Belmont will be to bet Wicked Strong and, to a lesser extent, Tonalist to upset California Chrome in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
California Chrome is the best horse but doesn’t warrant backing at a short price to win the Belmont, a taxing 1 1/2-mile race that has foiled many talented horses after they won the first two legs.
Art and Alan Sherman have their father-and-son routine pretty much nailed down cold when it comes to training a horse for the Triple Crown. They complete each other’s sentences and read the other guy’s mind so effectively that Art can drink a glass of water while Alan talks, and nobody sees anybody move their lips.
California Chrome has held top form all spring and reportedly thrived at Belmont Park. His six straight wins at four different tracks include the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes. His tactical speed all but ensures another comfortable trip positioned close to an expected soft pace. From post 2, he will produce speed.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Belmont Park is offering several multirace pool guarantees Saturday, starting with a $500,000 guarantee on the opening 50-cent pick five, which starts with the first of 13 races at 11:35 a.m. Eastern.
The other guarantees are $1 million for the $2 pick six (races 6-11) and $1.5 million for the second of three pick fours (races 8-11). Both end with the Belmont Stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In his “day job” as senior director of communications and media services at Churchill Downs, Darren Rogers is the caretaker of some fairly coveted stuff: media passes for the Kentucky Derby.
But Rogers happily accepted a temporary role this week in guarding something far more valuable: the Triple Crown trophy that normally is housed at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Ky.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Wicked Strong and Social Inclusion both schooled in the starting gate Wednesday, but the results were markedly different.
Wicked Strong, the Wood Memorial winner who was made the second choice for Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, walked in and stood quietly twice on the training track. Wicked Strong misbehaved near the gate before the Holy Bull in Florida and was a bit anxious during the post parade in the Kentucky Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. – There is a significant level of respect for California Chrome among rival trainers whose horses will try to deny him the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, but that didn’t stop 10 horses from being entered Wednesday against him, setting the stage for California Chrome to clear yet another hurdle on his glorious, improbable journey.