American Pharoah to go for Triple Crown in June 6 Belmont Stakes

belmontstakes.com ^ | May 17, 2015 | Jenny Kellner

[lwd]

Conquest Curlinate is another horse that will be in the Belmont. War story is out. Dallas Stewart is high on tale of verve ...I watched a post Preakness interview he did and he likes that horse a lot ...said the Preakness was just a prep for the Belmont.

AP is training hard it would appear. They had him out in the rain yesterday and then again today.

[PGalt]

Mubtaahij, Frosted, Carpe Diem with outside chances…for 2nd. (I’m not wagering on the race)

I guess if I had to pick one to upset, I’d go with Mubtaahij. It will be interesting. I’ll have to watch the results after the race…when I get home from work on Saturday.

[ETL]

I can’t find much to like about Mubtaahij. But Conquest Curlinate and Materiality look like serious longshots here. Too early I guess for them to post the morning line odds.

[SAJ]

Canonero II was injured in the Preakness, remember. Big Sports Illustrated cover after the Belmont, headline: CANONERO SHOULD NOT HAVE RUN.

Maybe the injury did not affect Can's Belmont, I don't know...but he was not the same horse in that race. BTW, if I'm not mistaken, Canonero II was the LAST horse who was in the mutuel field to win any Triple Crown race (don't argue about being in the field; I have my ticket framed and sitting right in front of me (g!))

Must respectfully disagree with your "all of the horses who had a chance...", etc. Looked at Secretariat's final quarter in the Belmont recently? Remember how Wide World of Sports had to PAN the camera back up the stretch to see the rest of the horses? Was it 30 lengths, or 36, I can't quite recall now.

FReegards!

[ETL]

The following horses won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness but did not win the Belmont:

1932 Burgoo King - Did not start (unknown reason)
1936 Bold Venture - Did not start (injury)
1944 Pensive - 2nd to Bounding Home
1958 Tim Tam - 2nd to Cavan
1961 Carry Back - 7th to Sherluck
1964 Northern Dancer - 3rd to Quadrangle
1966 Kauai King - 4th to Amberoid
1968 Forward Pass - 2nd to Stage Door Johnny
1969 Majestic Prince - 2nd to Arts and Letters
1971 Canonero II - 4th to Pass Catcher
1979 Spectacular Bid - 3rd to Coastal
1981 Pleasant Colony - 3rd to Summing
1987 Alysheba - 4th to Bet Twice
1989 Sunday Silence - 2nd to Easy Goer
1997 Silver Charm - 2nd to Touch Gold
1998 Real Quiet - 2nd to Victory Gallop
1999 Charismatic - 3rd to Lemon Drop Kid
2002 War Emblem - 8th to Sarava
2003 Funny Cide - 3rd to Empire Maker
2004 Smarty Jones - 2nd to Birdstone
2008 Big Brown - DNF to Da’ Tara
2012 I’ll Have Another - Did not start (injury)
2014 California Chrome - 4th to Tonalist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing#Near_Misses

[ETL]

31 lengths.

Secretariat Belmont Stakes 1973 & extended post race coverage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4f6wiQJh4

[ETL]

[rainee]

Video always give me chills - an unbelievable feat.

[SAJ]

Many thanks, m'FRiend.

Nice to know my memory isn't going as fast as I sometimes think! (g!)

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Yes, I forgot to add, “Except for Secretariat”. ;-)

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Yes, you are correct. I forgot to add “except for Secretariat. ;-)

Secretariat won The Belmont Stakes by 31.5 lengths.

[lwd]

http://www.chef-de-race.com/dosage/classics/2015/2015_belmont_stakes_contenders.htm

[ETL]

Thanks.

[ETL]

[ETL]

The chart above is of course of the 2015 Preakness Stakes at Pimilco, the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown.

[ETL]

Note, in the chart, American Phar’s final time was roughly 6 seconds off the race record. It was also nearly 4 seconds slower than California Chrome’s winning time in last year’s Preakness. The track was sloppy, but still, ~4 seconds is a lot.

[ETL]

Correction: American Phar’s final time was actually about 6 seconds off the Pimico TRACK record for the 1-3/16 mile distance. Not the race record (Preakness record).

[lwd]

Conquest Curlinator will not run the Belmont ...announced today. The truth or Else will run. Mubtaahij has an upgrade at jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr. but I think I like tale of verve with gary stevens ...

[lwd]

Interesting on the time differences from last year. I guess they just had a slower pace.

[ETL]

I'm going to go out on a not-too-long limb and say we FINALLY break the Triple Crown drought this year. Main reasons, the ease of Amer Phar has been running, plus his close to the pace running style. Contrary to what many people believe, speed holds up extremely well at these longer distances.

Here are the charts of the most recent Belmont Stakes. Check out how well speed has held up. They of course don’t always win, but they often hang on for a share and are not beaten by very much.

2008 Belmont Stakes:
http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/2008.pdf

2009 Belmont Stakes
http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/2009.pdf

2010 Belmont Stakes
http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/2010.pdf

2011 Belmont Stakes
http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/2011.pdf

2012 Belmont Stakes
http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/2012.pdf

2013 Belmont Stakes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd-5c4l-iKs

2014 Belmont Stakes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGaNCWZLyWc

SOURCE:
http://www.belmontstakes.com/racing/belmontstakes.aspx