A year ago, the joint was jumpin’.
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Win five straight Belmonts like Stephens did between 1982 and 1986 and your take on the Triple Crown’s third jewel carries weight. The average final quarter-mile in the last 20 years is not much under 26 seconds, a true war of attrition, and what made American Pharoah’s front-running tour de force last year so exemplary was his final quarter-mile in 24.32 seconds, finishing off a last half in 48.66, almost three seconds faster than the 20-year standard.
The 2016 Belmont Stakes will run this Saturday, June 11. A packed house of 90,000 jubilant fans stood and roared.
“Wow! Wow, is all I can tell you”, were among the first words from winning jockey Victor Espinoza as the cheering grew louder and louder, rocking the rafters of the historic racetrack. Stephens certainly had a knack for the longer race, because out of that quintet, only Swale, who also won the Derby, finished first in any of the Triple Crown’s other legs.
Exaggerator is, to no one’s surprise, the strong favorite. “You lose a lot of the mainstream media and maybe the casual fans that might turn on the TV to watch a potential Triple Crown event”.
“I think the best answer I can say is, in comparison, he was the same”.
“The five weeks should do him some good”, said Dale Romans, who trains Brody’s Cause. He ran second in the Kentucky Derby and followed that with a win in the Preakness where he finally beat the undefeated Nyquist.
“I hope we’re sitting on a big race”, Romans said.
And who knows? Exaggerator, a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, may have plenty of victories left in the tank.
After winning the Preakness on May 21, Kent Desormeaux returned to California. The list of challengers includes Preakness runner-up Cherry Wine, Lani (fifth in Preakness, ninth in Derby), Suddenbreakingnews (fifth in Derby), Destin (sixth in Derby), Brody’s Cause (seventh in Derby) and Creator (13th in Derby.) Governor Malibu is also confirmed, while Stradivari (fourth in Preakness), Trojan Nation (16th in Derby), and Wild About Deb are considered questionable. Bred for long races, this colt has trained forwardly for the longest race he might ever run. “He should do it with his pedigree, but I don’t think he towers over the field”.
Now the focus lands on Exaggerator, owned by Big Chief Racing, trained by Keith Desormeaux, and ridden by jockey Kent Desormeaux. In the 1998 Belmont, he came within inches of the Triple Crown with Real Quiet, who was beaten by a nose by Victory Gallop in a photo finish.
That Keith Desormeaux still trusts his brother to handle the most successful horse he has ever conditioned is just one example of his faith in his sibling. “I did what I could to get him happy and fresh and strong, and I’ve always said he’s always had a great ability to recover and he showed it”. “Maybe they like the name”.
This style of management is a fairly recent phenomenon, reflecting the gradual trend of trainers giving their horses more time between starts. It’s a special thing, two brothers in a classic like this. So it looks like were in good shape..
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Should it rain in NY on Friday and/or Saturday, Exaggerator would be hard to bet against; but assuming no rain, the absence of a red hot pace could turn this Belmont into a mad scramble. After the races, the band Daughtry will perform.
