A trio of Belmont Stakes contenders turned in workouts yesterday, including a colt that hadn't even been under consideration for the race one week ago.
Perhaps the most prominent name of the work tab was Paynter, a highly-promising colt from the barn of Bob Baffert. Coming off of a highly impressive victory in an allowance race on the Preakness Stakes undercard, the colt wasn't expected to turn in much more than a maintenance work while breezing in company with his graded stakes-placed stablemate Brigand. However, it appears that no one told Paynter that, for he ended up breezing a bullet five-eighths in :59.26 at Belmont Park. This brilliant workout, coupled with the talent he has displayed in his short career, makes me suspect that this colt is coming into the Belmont Stakes in excellent fashion and could outrun his odds.
Also on the Belmont work tab was Alpha, winner of the Withers Stakes (gr. III) Count Fleet Stakes during the Aqueduct winter meet. A beautifully bred son of Bernardini, he failed to live up to expectations in the Kentucky Derby, finishing twelfth after getting upset in the paddock. Time will tell how well he reacts to the huge crowd which will undoubtedly be at Belmont to witness I'll Have Another's bid to win the Triple Crown, but yesterday's workout -- a solid five-eighths in 1:01.93 -- should help set him up for the race as best as possible.
At Calder Race Course, the star of the work tab was Ravelo's Boy, unraced since finishing fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) back in March. With jockey Alex Solis aboard, the colt breezed seven furlongs in 1:28.29, but the workout was far from an ordinary breeze. The complete story can be found at DRF.com: http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-stakes-2012-ravelos-boy-gets-green-light-run-belmont
In other Belmont news, Derby third-place finisher Dullahan arrived this morning following a van ride from Churchill Downs. His arrival means that nine of the twelve prospective Belmont starters are now at the track, with only Union Rags, Optimizer, and the above-mentioned Ravelo's Boy still to ship.
Also, Derby-Preakness winner I'll Have Another has continued to gallop with good energy at Belmont Park, but trainer Doug O'Neill has stated that the colt is unlikely to turn in a timed breeze between now and the Belmont.
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A spectacular card is scheduled to be run this afternoon at Belmont Park, including three grade I stakes races on the main track. Among the prominent stars scheduled to run are Awesome Maria, It's Tricky, Contested, On Fire Baby, To Honor and Serve, Shackleford, Caleb's Posse, and Jackson Bend.
It's probably too early to start looking for track biases that might affect the Belmont Stakes -- after all, the race is still twelve days away -- but with this being a huge day of racing, I wouldn't be surprised if the track is prepared for racing in similar fashion. So if every race on the main track were won in wire-to-wire fashion, we might want to look out for a similar bias come Belmont day.
But let's set aside the Belmont Stakes for the moment and take a brief look at the field for the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I). A terrific field of six has turned out for this one-mile event, including five millionaires and four grade I winners. All are coming off of races in which they earned a triple-digit Beyer speed figure, and I really wouldn't be surprised if the race was run in 1:32 and change.
One only needs to glance at the names of the runners to realize that this is going to be one of the best races of the year. To Honor and Serve, Shackleford, Caleb's Posse, Jackson Bend -- throw in the admirable Caixa Eletronica and the rapidly-improving Saginaw -- what a race!
I won't list a pick for this event, simply because I don't have one. I'm not going to handicap this race. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy what should be one of the most exciting races in recent memory.
-Keelerman
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