Jon White: 2024 Belmont Stakes Selections

Ten 3-year-olds are poised to clash in the Belmontoga Stakes this Saturday (June 8).

I say “Belmontoga Stakes” because this year’s $2 million Belmont Stakes has been moved to Saratoga and shorted to 1 1/4 miles from its usual distance of 1 1/2 miles due to Belmont Park being under construction.

From the rail out, the field for this year’s 156th running of the Grade I Belmont Stakes consists of Seize the Grey (8-1 on David Aragona’s morning line), Resilience (10-1), Mystik Dan (5-1), The Wine Steward (15-1), Antiquarian (12-1), Dornoch (15-1), Protective (20-1), Honor Marie (12-1), Sierra Leone (9-5) and Mindframe (7-2).

This will be the first time in history that the Belmont Stakes has been run at Saratoga.

Below are my Belmont Stakes selections:

1. Mindframe (pictured above)
2. Sierra Leone
3. Mystik Dan
4. Seize the Grey

This year’s Belmont features a showdown between Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness Stakes victor Seize the Grey.

You have to go back to 2013 for the last time that different winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness clashed in the Belmont. That 2013 Belmont attracted Derby winner Orb and Preakness hero Oxbow, but neither won the Belmont.

After Palace Malice finished 12th in the Run for the Roses, he won the Belmont by 3 1/4 lengths at odds of 13-1. Oxbow finished second at 10-1. Orb, the 2-1 favorite, had to settle for third in the field of 14.

D. Wayne Lukas trained Oxbow. Lukas also conditioned Will Take Charge, who wound up being voted the 2013 Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old male despite being an also-ran in the three Triple Crown races.

Will Take Charge finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, seventh in the Preakness and 10th in the Belmont. After those uninspiring performances, Will Take Charge went on to win the Travers Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic when losing by a scant nose to the older Mucho Macho Man.

Will 2024 be the same as 2013 in that the Belmont will not be won by either the Kentucky Derby winner or Preakness winner? I believe so. I am thinking that the winner of the 2024 Belmont is going to be probable favorite Sierra Leone or undefeated Mindframe. I had a devil of a time trying to decide which one of those two to make my top pick, but I’ve opted for Mindframe.

It’s not as if I’m taking a wild stab by picking Mindframe to win. He is the second choice on the morning line.

I was blown away by Mindframe when he was unveiled in a seven-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park on March 30. Not only did he run up the score in the lane to win by 13 3/4 lengths, I loved the way he relaxed so nicely early when sitting a couple of lengths or so off the pace for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who will be back aboard in the Belmont.

In his maiden victory, Mindframe posted an excellent final time of 1:21.72. He was credited with a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. It’s the highest Beyer among the 10 entrants in Saturday’s Belmont.

Admittedly, that wasn’t the strongest bunch of maidens left in Mindframe’s wake on March 30. Far from it. But two of his victims have subsequently won. Runner-up One Sharp Cookie wired a group of Florida-bred maidens when victorious by 2 3/4 lengths in a 6 1/2-furlong race on May 23 at Gulfstream (77 Beyer). Ponce de Leon, fifth to Mineframe on March 30, won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden sprint by 3 lengths on May 25 at Woodbine (88 Beyer).

Mindframe’s next start came in a 1 1/16-mile allowance/optional claimer on the Kentucky Derby undercard. It was the third race of the day. Mindframe ran on a wet, drying-out surface listed as good. The track had been labeled muddy for the first race and later was upgraded to fast for the sixth race.

Again ridden by Ortiz, Mindframe showed the way by a length or so through the early stages, then widened in the stretch and won by 7 1/2 lengths while “geared down in the final sixteenth,” according to the Equibase chart. His final time was 1:43.17. He recorded a 97 Beyer.

How good is Mindframe? Who knows? Is he a superstar? Maybe. Or is he biting off more than he can chew in the Belmont? This also is a possibility.

I consider it to be a positive that Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Mike Repole and St. Elias Stables are willing to run the lightly race Mindframe in the Belmont. With such a promising 3-year-old, they certainly could have taken a more conservative approach and found a much easier spot for Mindframe. This sign of confidence in Mindframe is one of the reasons Mindframe is my top pick in the Belmont.

Mindframe also is Matt Shifman’s top choice in the Belmont for Horse Racing Nation.

“The move from an allowance victory to a Triple Crown race is significant. The fact that Pletcher is making the move has to be considered an endorsement,” Shifman wrote. “Mindframe lacks in experience, but his pair of brilliant victories suggests he could be any kind. He is bred to handle the distance. Mindframe is the top choice on the chance that he will run this field off their feet.”

Mindframe is by Constitution. If Mindframe does succeed in the Belmont, a son of Constitution will have won the only two Belmont Stakes held at a distance different than 1 1/2 miles from 1926 to this year.

In 2020, due to COVID, the Belmont Stakes kicked off the Triple Crown series and was decided at 1 1/8 miles. Tiz the Law, who like Mindframe is by Constitution, won the shortened Belmont by 3 3/4 lengths.

Constitution is by Tapit, who has sired a record-equaling four winners of the Belmont Stakes. Tapit’s Belmont winners have been Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016), Taprit (2017) and Essential Quality (2021).

Lexington is the only other sire with four Belmont winners: General Duke (1868), Kingfisher (1870), Harry Bassett (1871) and Duke of Magenta (1878).

I came very close to going with Sierra Leone as my top pick in this year’s Belmont. This race seems made to order for the talented $2.3 million auction purchase. He is just two noses away from being five for five.

Sierra Leone lost Aqueduct’s Remsen Stakes by a nose on a muddy track last Dec. 2. He lost the Kentucky Derby by the same margin at Churchill Downs on May 4 after lugging in and bumping Forever Young during the stretch run.

I heard Richard Migliore say on America’s Day at the Races that the bumping between Sierra Leone and Forever Young was started by Forever Young when he came out in upper stretch.

Yes, when looking at the head-on, it appears that Forever Young came out and initiated the contact with Sierra Leone. It appears that way because the front part of Forever Young’s body is angled toward the grandstand when the first bump occurs. But if you watch it closely on the pan, you will see Sierra Leone actually comes over and slams into the hind end of Forever Young, which is why the front part of his body is angled toward the grandstand. Saying that the bumping was started by Forever Young is just flat incorrect. It was started by Sierra Leone, who “bumped, shoved and basically mauled Forever Young” during the stretch run, as Secretariat.com’s Steve Haskin wrote.

Sierra Leone previously had lugged in during a race, something he also had done when he won Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths.

Any way you slice it, Sierra Leone ran a big race in Louisville to lose by the narrowest of margins. Trainer Chad Brown is hoping an equipment change for the Belmont in the form of what is called a cage bit will help the Gun Runner colt not revert to his tendency to lug in.

“He’s been doing great, bounced out of the Derby, which can obviously be a tough race on horses, beautifully,” Brown said in a Daily Racing Form article written by David Grening. “He’s training really good here [at Saratoga], just hoping we have a good trip. There are [not] as many horses to run down [as in the Derby], hopefully it’ll be a little easier on him. I just hope he runs the same race he ran in the Derby.”

If Sierra Leone does run the same race he ran in the Kentucky Derby, which produced a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for his effort, I can’t help wondering if that will be good enough to get the job done in the Belmont.

Sierra Leone’s top Beyer to date has been his 99 in the Kentucky Derby. Is he worth betting at a short price when not one, not two, but three of his Belmont opponents have recorded a Beyer of 100 or higher? I don’t think so.

As noted earlier, Mindframe’s 103 is the top Beyer Speed Figure in the field.

Mystik Dan, a Goldencents colt, ran a 101 Beyer on a muddy track when winning Oaklawn’s Southwest Stakes and a 100 Beyer when victorious on a dry track in the Kentucky Derby.

Kenny McPeek trains Mystik Dan. McPeek won the 2002 Belmont with Sarava.

Seize the Grey, who is trained by Hall of Famer Lukas, came away with a 100 Beyer for his front-running Preakness score.

Lukas has won the Belmont four times: Tabasco Cat in 1994, Thunder Gulch in 1995, Editor’s Note in 1996 and Commendable in 2000.

After having won the Kentucky Derby and finished second in the Preakness, Mystik Dan is the division’s leader going into the Belmont, which is reflected by this week’s NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll. Mystik Dan is ranked No. 1. Sierra Leone is No. 2. Seize the Grey is No. 3.

By the way, McPeek’s win with Sarava in 2002 is definitely one of my least-favorite Belmonts.

In the Kentucky Derby that year, Medaglia d’Oro experienced a troubled start, then rallied from 10th to finish fourth at odds of 6-1. In my opinion, many made a mountain out of a molehill regarding Medaglia d’Oro’s trouble in the Derby. Thus, I felt that he became a so-called “wise-guy horse” in the Preakness, going off at a ridiculously low 3-1 when higher odds would have been justified.

I labeled Tuscan Gold a wise-guy horse in this year’s Preakness. It was my view that he probably was getting more support in the wagering than he deserved vis-a-vis his chances of winning the race. Sent off at 4-1 in the Preakness, he finished fourth.

Medaglia d’Oro, like Tuscan Gold, finished fourth in his Preakness.

After Medaglia d’Oro was soundly defeated by 17 1/4 lengths in Baltimore, his trainer, Bobby Frankel, said he was shipping the colt back to Southern California. Frankel said he probably would be looking at stakes races on the grass at Del Mar for Medaglia d’Oro. But instead of doing that, Frankel sent Medaglia d’Oro to the Belmont, which I took as a huge positive.

Why did I feel that Medaglia d’Oro was a live longshot in the Belmont at 16-1? Because I thought that Frankel, a native New Yorker, would not have sent Medaglia d’Oro to run in the Belmont unless the trainer felt the colt would do a lot better than he did in the Preakness. I didn’t think Frankel would risk being embarrassed in an important New York race by having the son of El Prado turn in another bad performance.

Medaglia d’Oro did follow his thrashing in the Preakness by running a good race in the Belmont. But, unfortunately for me, it was not quite good enough.

Sarava won by a half-length for McPeek at 70-1. Sarava returned $142.50, which broke the record for highest $2 win mutuel in the history of the Belmont Stakes. The previous record had been Sherluck’s $132.10 in 1961. Sarava’s $142.50 is still the record.

Medaglia d’Oro, the 2002 Belmont runner-up, paid $12.00 to place.

Protective, slated to run in this year’s Belmont, is a son of Medaglia d’Oro.

You may recall that the 2002 Belmont was the one in which War Emblem was thwarted in his attempt at a Triple Crown sweep when he finished eighth as the 6-5 favorite after stumbling at the start.

REVISITING THE 2013 BELMONT STAKES

While Sierra Leone undergoes an equipment change for this year’s Belmont in that he will be racing with a different bit, the winner of the 2013 Belmont, Palace Malice, also had an equipment change for that renewal. Palace Malice had blinkers removed for the Belmont after wearing them for the first time in the Kentucky Derby.

I wrote this in my 2013 Belmont Stakes recap for Xpressbet.com: “In the Kentucky Derby, with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in the saddle, Palace Malice set a crazy pace (:22.57, :45.33 and 1:09.80) and finished 12th. And then, in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, when racing without blinkers and with Smith again aboard, Palace Malice won by 3 1/4 lengths after he sat close to the pace through the first mile (:23.11, :46.66, 1:10.95, 1:36.47), which was pretty demanding for a 1 1/2-mile race.

“Many believe that Palace Malice took off early in the Derby because of trainer Todd Pletcher’s decision to add blinkers to the colt’s equipment. However, Smith feels something else besides the blinkers actually was more responsible for that.”

Three days after the Belmont, Smith said on Steve Byk’s SiriusXM radio program At the Races that he felt a sloppy track had more to do with Palace Malice running so fast early in the Kentucky Derby than the addition of blinkers.

“There was a lot of rain the night before the Derby and the racetrack was real sloppy for the race,” Smith said. “The game plan was to just ride him out of there and sit in a stalking position. Well, when we broke, I kind of rode him out of there a little bit. But he broke so well that when I did that, he was basically gone. And then with all that noise behind him [18 horses splashing loudly on the sloppy track], I truly believe it just scared him to death. I mean, he was just flat running off with me. He just ran right through the bridle. So therefore Todd decided to take the blinkers off for the Belmont.”

In fact, the Kentucky Derby was the only time Palace Malice would ever have blinkers on in his 17-race career.

Palace Malice was one of five Pletcher trainees in the 2013 Belmont. Pletcher also sent out Revolutionary (who finished fifth), the filly Unlimited Budget (sixth), Overanalyze (seventh) and Midnight Taboo (12th).

Pletcher has three of the entrants in this year’s Belmont. They are Mindframe, Antiquarian and the maiden Protective.

Rags to Riches in 2007 became Pletcher’s first of four Belmont Stakes winners. The other three have been the aforementioned Palace Malice in 2013, Tapwrit in 2017 and Mo Donegal in 2022.

Even though Rags to Riches stumbled at the start and had a wide trip, she won the Belmont by a head. Finishing second was no less than Curlin, who was inducted into the national Hall of Fame in 2024 after being voted Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

As I’ve written numerous times, I strongly believe it is wrong that Rags to Riches isn’t in the Hall of Fame. But it’s also become increasingly clear to me that too many feel otherwise, which is why I have come to the conclusion that Hall of Fame membership for her is not going to happen.

I’ve heard some people say that they think Rags to Riches doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame because she didn’t race enough. Well, she made seven career starts, which was one more than Justify, who is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

And, yes, I know some may argue that while it’s true that Justify made one less start than Rags to Riches, Justify deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because he accomplished something historic by becoming this country’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

But the truth is that Rags to Riches also achieved something historic. In 2007, she became the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in more than 100 years. No filly had won the Belmont since Tanya in 1905.

To this day, while there have been 13 Triple Crown winners, only three fillies have ever won the Belmont Stakes. They are Ruthless in the first running of the Belmont in 1867, Tanya in 1905 and Rags to Riches in 2007.

For those who don’t feel that Rags to Riches did enough besides her Belmont Stakes victory to merit Hall of Fame membership, I submit that she did win a total four Grade I races. That’s more Grade I victories than Genuine Risk and Winning Colors, who both are in the Hall of Fame, as they should be.

Since races in this country were first graded in 1973, only five fillies have won a Triple Crown event. The number of Grade I wins for these five fillies is listed below:

5 Rachel Alexandra
4 Rags to Riches
3 Winning Colors
3 Swiss Skydiver
2 Genuine Risk

SECRETARIAT’S BREATHTAKING BELMONT

One of the things I’m the most proud of was predicting in print in the spring of 1973 that Secretariat would end a 25-year Triple Crown drought. Because of that prediction, I was on pins and needles when he went into the Belmont Stakes with a chance at Triple Crown glory.

Keep in mind that because Secretariat was by Bold Ruler, many questioned whether he had the stamina to win the Kentucky Derby at 1 1/4 miles. Not only did he win the Derby, his final time of 1:59 3/5 broke the track record by two-fifths of a second, a mark that still stands 51 years later.

But could Secretariat win going 1 1/2 miles? Despite the fact he had not yet run in a race as long as 1 1/2 miles, Secretariat was hammered down to 1-10 favoritism in the Belmont Stakes. But there still was the possibility that he would join the seven horses who got beat in the Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line since Citation’s sweep in 1948. Those seven horses were Tim Tam (1958), Carry Back (1961), Northern Dancer (1964), Kauai King (1966), Forward Pass (1968), Majestic Prince (1969) and Canonero II (1971).

But, of course, not only did Secretariat win the Belmont Stakes, he did so by a ridiculous 31 lengths to become a Triple Crown winner, as I had predicted in my high school newspaper, the Lewis and Clark Journal.

This is from my sports column on March 22, 1973:

“SPORTS FOCUS

“A Look at Triple Crown

“By Jon White

“Going out on a limb and living dangerously, I dare say that 1973 will be a historic year as Secretariat will become the first Triple Crown winner since the great Citation in 1948.

“The 1972 Horse of the Year made his [1973] debut an impressive one as he exploded to a 4 1/2-length triumph in the $27,750 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct last Saturday.

“Ridden by regular rider Ron Turcotte, Secretariat put on his usual late burst of speed to easily put away Champagne Charlie and Impecunious, who finished second and third.

“Running the seven furlongs in 1:23 1/5 over a sloppy track, the outstanding son of Bold Ruler appears to be able to beat anybody, anywhere, anytime and at any distance.

“Secretariat is owned by Meadow Stables and trained by Lucien Laurin, who produced last year’s winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, Riva Ridge.

“Secretariat currently is the ‘people’s choice’ and looks to be odds-on at this stage to win the Kentucky Derby in May.”

Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes victory is widely regarded as the greatest performance by a Thoroughbred in American racing history.

While I watched Secretariat’s Belmont, it was thrilling to see him “moving like a tremendous machine,” as Chic Anderson famously described it during his call of the race for a CBS television audience of some 15 million.

Secretariat’s final time of 2:24 in the 1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion” slaughtered Gallant Man’s track record by a 2 3/5 seconds. As Anderson noted, “that is a record that may stand forever.”

Secretariat.com’s Steve Haskin this week wrote about Secretariat’s Belmont. I highly recommend that you read it: https://www.secretariat.com/what-you-didnt-know-about-secretariats-belmont/

Haskin noted that in the 51 years since Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes, “no one has come even remotely close” to his record of 2:24. The two fastest Belmont winners since Secretariat “were Hall of Famers A.P. Indy and Easy Goer, both of whom would have been beaten 10 lengths by Secretariat. And he would have beaten the previous record holder, Hall of Famer Gallant Man, by 13 lengths.

“…To give you an idea of how wide the chasm is between Secretariat’s record and the times Belmont winners have been running this century,” Haskin added, “the average time since 2000 has been 2:28 3/5, which is an astounding 23 lengths slower than Big Red. And those figures include the two Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah and Justify.”

Entrants in this year’s Belmont Stakes who have Secretariat appearing in their pedigree are Resilience, Mystik Dan, The Wine Steward, Antiquarian, Dornoch, Honor Marie, Sierra Leone and Mindframe.

JUSTIFY’S CITY OF TROY WINS EPSOM DERBY

Thanks to a $100 future book wager I made on Justify for the 2018 Kentucky Derby at odds of 100-1, a ticket I ultimately cashed for $10,000 at the Wynn Race Book in Las Vegas, he forever will be one of my favorite racehorses.

Of course, after winning the roses, Justify would go on to become this country’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

After leaving the racing stage, Justify has truly become fantastic sire. In his latest achievement as a stallion, a son of his, City of Troy, won the 245th running of the Epsom Derby by a decisive 2 3/4 lengths last Saturday (June 1).

It was the record-extending 10th Epsom Derby victory for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Bob Baffert, who trained Justify, posted this on the social media platform X: “Congratulations to Team Aidan O’Brien on his 10th Epsom Derby win. City of Troy was superb -- following in the footsteps of his sire, Justify – a brilliant racehorse who continues to stamp himself as [a] spectacular sire.”

What Justify has accomplished already at stud has been nothing less than phenomenal.

Daily Racing Form’s Nicole Russo wrote: “Justify is the sire of Eclipse Award champion Just F Y I, European champions City of Troy and Opera Singer, and Australian champion Learning to Fly; he is represented by stakes winners in the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.”

After City of Troy suffered his first loss when finishing ninth while making his 3-year-old debut in the Two Thousand Guineas, he regained his luster with his Epsom Derby victory. The Thousand Guineas has been his lone defeat in five career starts.

O’Brien, in a mea culpa, said that he “made mistakes” in training City of Troy for the Two Thousand Guineas, adding that the Kentucky-bred colt was “too fresh” and “unprepared” for that race.

After City of Troy’s triumph last Saturday, O’Brien was effusive with his praise for the colt. When asked if City of Troy was the best of O’Brien’s 10 Epsom Derby winners, the legendary horseman said: “I’d say no doubt.”

It was just a year ago that O’Brien executed a similar Epsom Derby “rebound victory” with Auguste Rodin. The Deep Impact colt won the Epsom Derby after having flopped in the Two Thousand Guineas when finishing 12th.

Contributing to City of Troy’s Epsom Derby win was yet another ride that was an absolute masterpiece on the part of Ryan Moore. Toward the back of the pack in the early going, Moore managed to deftly guide City of Troy through traffic while rallying in the field of 16.

Though City of Troy no longer has an unblemished record, what he did in the Epsom Derby clearly shows that he is one of the most talented racehorses on the planet.

ROMANTIC WARRIOR WINS AGAIN, THIS TIME IN JAPAN

Last Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, Romantic Warrior proved a punctual 5-2 favorite in the Group I Yasuda Kinen. The 6-year-old Irish-bred Acclamation gelding is based in Hong Kong.

Romantic Warrior’s dam is the Street Cry mare Folk Melody. Street Cry sired the amazing Zenyatta, America’s Horse of the Year in 2010. Zenyatta won her first 19 starts before ending her racing career with a valiant head loss to Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The Yasuda Kinen was Romantic Warrior’s fifth consecutive win, all at the Group I level. He has been victorious in 11 of 16 career starts.

In addition to Romantic Warrior’s multiple Group I victories in Hong Kong, he won the Group I Cox Plate and Group I Turnbull Stakes last year in Australia.

With Romantic Warrior’s win in the Yasuda Kinen at about mile on grass, he secured an automatic berth in this year’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile on Del Mar’s turf course in early November through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series’ Win and You’re In races.

One gets the feeling it’s probably a longshot, but how marvelous would it be to see Romantic Warrior show up for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile?

During his current winning streak, Romantic Warrior has prevailed by a nose, a nose, a neck, a neck and a half-length. This ability to constantly win close decisions brings to mind this country’s great gelding John Henry. Many of John Henry’s 39 lifetime wins came in a photo finish.

John Henry was voted Horse of the Year in 1981 at age 6 and again in 1984 at age 9. I seriously doubt that we will ever see another 9-year-old Horse of the Year.

On my list of the Top 100 Thoroughbreds to have won in North America during the 20th century and 21st century so far, John Henry is No. 23, as shown below (in parentheses, when applicable, is where the horse ranked on BloodHorse’s list of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century):

   1. Man o’ War (1)
   2. Secretariat* (2)
   3. Citation* (3)
   4. Kelso (4)
   5. Spectacular Bid (10)
   6. Native Dancer (7)
   7. Dr. Fager (6)
   8. Seattle Slew* (9)
   9. Count Fleet* (5)
 10. Affirmed* (12)
 11. Ruffian (35)
 12. Swaps (20)
 13. Forego (8)
 14. Phar Lap (22)
 15. Flightline
 16. American Pharoah*
 17. Buckpasser (14)
 18. Damascus (16)
 19. Round Table (17)
 20. War Admiral* (13)
 21. Tom Fool (11)
 22. Colin (15)
 23. John Henry (23)
 24. Zenyatta
 25. Regret (71)
 26. Seabiscuit (25)
 27. Whirlaway (26)
 28. Sunday Silence (31)
 29. Exterminator (29)
 30. Cigar (18)
 31. Nashua (24)
 32. Arrogate
 33. Alydar (27)
 34. Easy Goer (34)
 35. Ghostzapper
 36. Curlin
 37. Personal Ensign (48)
 38. Alysheba (42)
 39. Rachel Alexandra
 40. Justify*
 41. Bold Ruler (19)
 42. Landaluce
 43. Shared Belief
 44. California Chrome
 45. Gallant Man (36)
 46. Tiznow
 47. Equipoise (21)
 48. Gun Runner
 49. Gallant Fox* (28)
 50. Sysonby (30)
 51. Northern Dancer (43)
 52. Assault* (33)
 53. Armed (39)
 54. Sir Barton* (49)
 55. Omaha* (61)
 56. Ack Ack (44)
 57. Discovery (37)
 58. Majestic Prince (46)
 59. Arts and Letters (67)
 60. Stymie (41)
 61. Pan Zareta
 62. Challedon (38)
 63. Noor (69)
 64. Skip Away (32)
 65. Busher (40)
 66. Gallorette (45)
 67. Coaltown (47)
 68. Sword Dancer (53)
 69. Riva Ridge (57)
 70. Grey Lag (54)
 71. Devil Diver (55)
 72. Dahlia (50)
 73. All Along (68)
 74. Invasor
 75. Zev (56)
 76. Ta Wee (80)
 77. Twilight Tear (59)
 78. Native Diver (60)
 79. Holy Bull (64)
 80. Precisionist
 81. Inside Information (67)
 82. Shuvee (70)
 83. Twenty Grand (52)
 84. Sham
 85. Alsab (65)
 86. Lady’s Secret (76)
 87. Genuine Risk (91)
 88. A.P. Indy
 89. Silver Charm (63)
 90. Susan’s Girl (51)
 91. Cicada (62)
 92. Go for Wand (72)
 93. Slew o’ Gold (58)
 94. Bald Eagle (74)
 95. Exceller (96)
 96. Wise Dan
 97. Tim Tam
 98. Top Flight (66)
 99. Manila
100. Princess Rooney

*Triple Crown winner

CORRECTION

During the years that I have been making morning lines at Santa Anita (beginning in 2009) and at Del Mar (starting in 2020), racing official Charlie McCaul has been a huge help to me from the racing office at both tracks. Also, from time to time, McCaul has let me know when he has seen a mistake in my weekly Xpressbet.com blog. He spotted an error in last week’s blog.

When taking a look back at Flightline’s spectacular 19 1/4-length victory in Del Mar’s 2022 Pacific Classic, I wrote: “When starter Tucker Slender pushed the button to send the Pacific Classic runners on their way, Flightline was involved in a bit of bumping leaving the gate, but it was nothing significant. He then vied for the early lead without jockey Flavien Prat having to hustle him to do so.”

It actually was starter Jay Slender who pushed the button, not his father, retired starter Tucker Slender.

TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

Below is the Top 10 in this week’s NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)

 1. 296 Senor Buscador (19)
 2. 268 Idiomatic (9)
 3. 214 National Treasure (3)
 4. 178 Master of The Seas (1)
 5. 171 First Mission
 6. 150 Adare Manor
 7. 113 White Abarrio
 8.   77 The Chosen Vron (1)
 9.   48 Skippylongstocking
10.   47 Saudi Crown

TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THREE-YEAR-OLD POLL

This year’s NTRA Top Three-Year-Old will conclude next week following the Belmont Stakes.

Below is this week’s Top 10:

Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)

 1. 309 Mystik Dan (24)
 2. 283 Sierra Leone (3)
 3. 271 Seize the Grey (4)
 4. 180 Catching Freedom
 4. 180 Forever Young
 6. 169 Muth (1)
 7. 127 Thorpedo Anna (1)
 8.   68 Fierceness
 9.   48 Nysos
10.   44 Resilience

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