Guess what? It’s Belmont Day!
This year’s Triple Crown has been a bit of a dud, with the dull performance of Super Saver in the Preakness. And this is one of the very few years when neither the Derby winner, nor the Preakness winner (Lookin at Lucky) make the trip to Belmont. Despite the lack of Triple Crown hopeful excitement, the Belmont is always a special race. It’s one of the few ultra-prestigous races left at a mile and a half…distance races are becoming increasingly scarce, especially over dirt, especially targeted for 3-year-olds.
The Belmont field this year has lacked hype, but you may recognize a few names. Ice Box finished third in the Derby, and Stately Victor won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Ice Box is trained by Belmont king Nick Zito, so he should be prime for a great race. First Dude was full of run at the Preakness, leading from the wire, and just finishing second to Lookin At Lucky. Experts say the Dude will love the distance, so keep an eye on that one. WinStar has another horse entered in Drosselmeyer (how many top horses do they have??!!), but there may be questions about his feet and soundness.
The complete field:
| Horse | Jockey | ML Odds |
| 1 Dave in Dixie | Calvin Borel | 20-1 |
| 2 Spangled Star | Garret Gomez | 30-1 |
| 3 Uptowncharleybrown | Rajiv Maragh | 10-1 |
| 4 Make Music for Me | Joel Rosario | 10-1 |
| 5 Fly Down | John Velazquez | 9-2 |
| 6 Ice Box | Jose Lezcano | 3-1 |
| 7 Drosselmeyer | Mike Smith | 12-1 |
| 8 Game on Dude | Martin Garcia | 10-1 |
| 9 Stately Victor | Alan Garcia | 15-1 |
| 10 Stay Put | Jamie Theriot | 20-1 |
| 11 First Dude | Ramon Dominguez | 7-2 |
| 12 Interactif | Javier Castellano | 12-1 |
Here’s hoping for a safe, fun, exciting race! Tune in to ABC to watch; post time at 6:30pm EST.
And, because it is THE GREATEST performance of all time:
