Challengers prepped to take best shot at California Chrome in Belmont
ELMONT, New York — California Chrome will be the main attraction at Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, and with good reason, but there are several other horses worth keeping an eye on among the 10 competitors looking to become the latest hindrance to thoroughbred racing history.
When the morning line was released Wednesday, Chrome, who is looking to become the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years, was the heavy favorite, as anticipated, at 3-5, and his toughest competition is expected to come from Wicked Strong, who was tabbed at 6-1 after finishing fourth at the Kentucky Derby and winning the Wood Memorial in April.
Wicked Strong started from the outside post in a field of 19 at Churchill Downs and will be coming from the ninth spot out of 11 at Belmont, but trainer Jimmy Jerkens said he doesn’t anticipate an outside post position to play a significant role Saturday.
“I would have liked him to be maybe a little bit — a couple of spots (further) inside,” Jerkens said. “But it's better than being way on the outside. At least he's got two horses shielding him from the crowd. Maybe that'll help a little bit.”
Wicked Strong’s path to the Belmont has been somewhat rocky, with back-to-back disappointments at Gulfstream Park early in the year before winning the Wood. But after skipping the Preakness, which Jerkens says was always by design, Wicked Strong seems raring to go, as evidenced by his work time of :59.10 over five furlongs on Sunday — which left him looking to chase down 2013 Belmont Stakes winner and heavy Metropolitan Mile favorite Palace Malice.
“He broke off nice and easy, and Palace Malice was working ahead of him, and when he went into that turn he looked like he saw him and he took off,” Jerkens said.
“I was watching that and I was positioned at the 3/16 pole and put my hand up because most of the time you like them to run horses down, but I think that might have been a little too much, trying to catch Palace Malice. By the time he got to the wire it would have been at 57 flat or something; I didn't really think he needed that.”
Behind Wicked Strong, Tonalist received the third-best odds on the morning line at 8-1. Tonalist didn’t compete in either of the first two Triple Crown races, but a four-length win on a sloppy track in the 1-1/8 mile Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont last month has earned him some attention going into this weekend.
“He's coming into the race well,” said Tonalist's owner Robert Evans, whose Pleasant Colony was denied Triple Crown glory with a third-place finish in the 1981 Belmont. “I wouldn't mind if he had a few more than four races (this year). We don't really know how good he is. It's a little hard to tell off that. He ran really well last time and he seems to like the track, and he's doing well, so we're hopeful.”
Preakness runner-up Ride on Curlin will be one of three horses in the field to have attempted all three Triple Crown races and is 12-1 on the morning line. There’s always a fear — just as there is with Chrome — that fatigue could play a role against a more well-rested field, but trainer Billy Gowan doesn’t see his horse’s experience as a disadvantage.
“Well, I hope so,” Gowan said when asked whether Ride on Curlin could upset Chrome on Saturday. “That's what we're here for. … I thought all along this might be his best distance. You know, he's got the pedigree to do it, and he never really quits, so I'm looking forward to running him.”
The only other entrant with odds shorter than 20-1 on the morning line is Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve. At 15-1, Commanding Curve skipped the Preakness, and trainer Dallas Stewart says he hopes the R&R will allow the Belmont’s other C.C. to peak at the right time.
“He's done well,” Stewart said of Commanding Curve’s workouts since the Derby. “Last year with Golden Soul, I could really only work him one time. His weight had dropped off after the Derby, so I just had to be a little careful. This horse came out of this great, he never seems to get tired, so he's had three works since the Derby. They've all been very good works. He's doing great, he's eating well, he’s a very sound horse, and we're very happy and proud to be here.”
Of course, if we know anything about the Belmont, especially when a Triple Crown is at stake, it’s that being an underdog isn’t always much of a disadvantage — just ask anyone who bet on Da’Tara, Birdstone, Sarava, Lemon Drop Kid, all of whom spoiled a Triple Crown seemingly out of nowhere.
Todd Pletcher has two long shots in this year’s field, 30-1 Matterhorn and 20-1 Commissioner, and said he feels either is capable of winning if things go right when the gates open. The same holds true for trainer Rick Violette, whose horse, Samraat, comes in at 20-1 odds after a fifth-place finish at the Derby.
“I think the two horses in the Belmont — we're in the Belmont because we feel like they're horses that want to stay the distance,” Pletcher said. “They both need to improve. They both need to run their best races to be a part of it, but Commissioner being a son of A.P. Indy out of a Touch Gold mare, two winners of the Belmont, I think he was always a horse we felt would improve with a little time and improve with a little distance, and we felt the same way with Matterhorn.”
And that’s all part of the allure of the Belmont — where nothing is a sure thing.
“I think so,” Violette said when asked whether Samraat could win at a mile and a half. “... I don't think anybody in the race right now or probably after the race is going to say a mile‑and‑a‑half on the dirt is his strong suit.”
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