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Preakness winner has made meteoric rise in his last 2 starts, upsetting the Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. Belmont would be third start in 5 weeks. 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won 15 Triple Crown races. Hall of Fame sire Arrogate missed the '16 Triple Crown, but won the Travers/Breeders' Cup Classic.
Wood Memorial winner finished 6th in the Kentucky Derby after momentarily taking the lead at the top of the stretch. Fourth-place effort in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds behind Sierra Leone. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott won the 2010 Belmont with Drosselmeyer.
Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up could stake his claim to the 3-year-old championship with a Belmont Stakes victory. Son of 2-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents. Trainer McPeek won the 2002 Belmont with Sarava.
Runner-up in both starts this year, the Lexington at Keeneland and the Peter Pan at Aqueduct. Won Saratoga's Funny Cide Stakes at age 2 and returns to the scene of his most recent stakes victory.
Peter Pan Stakes winner will be making his Triple Crown series debut for 4-time Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Todd Pletcher. The barn also won the 2007 Belmont with a TC unveiling by the filly Rags to Riches.
Full-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage finished 10th in his bid to follow up in his big bro's success in Louisville. Winner of Aqueduct's Remsen and Gulfstream's Fountain of Youth, he debuted 2nd at Saratoga last summer.
Maiden exits third-place finishes in the Peter Pan and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. No lack in pedigree as his dam Grace Hall was a Grade 1 winner at Saratoga, he's a maternal grandson of '03 Belmont winner Empire Maker and his sire Medaglia d'Oro was 2nd in this race in '02 and went on to win Saratoga's Jim Dandy, Travers &
Troubled trip 8th in the Kentucky Derby, he's pointed for the Belmont since. Last win came in November's Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Stakes at Churchill. First Triple Crown starter for trainer Whit Beckman, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher & Chad Brown, was in the Derby.
Nose runner-up in the Kentucky Derby is a mere 2 noses short of being unbeaten in his career. Lugging in late has been an issue and trainer Chad Brown turns to Flavien Prat on a jockey change from Tyler Gaffalione. Likely Belmont favorite.
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Most lightly raced contender in this year's Belmont has won both starts, a Gulfstream maiden and a Kentucky Derby Day undercard allowance at Churchill Downs. Win margins were 13-3/4 and 7-1/2 lengths in those blowouts. Trainer Todd Pletcher is a 4-time Belmont Stakes winner.
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
MINDFRAME
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
SEIZE THE GREY
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
SEIZE THE GREY
ANTIQUARIAN
SIERRA LEONE
MINDFRAME
MYSTIK DAN
ANTIQUARIAN
SIERRA LEONE
DORNOCH
MYSTIK DAN
SEIZE THE GREY
SIERRA LEONE
MINDFRAME
HONOR MARIE
SEIZE THE GREY
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MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
RESILIENCE
MYSTIK DAN
SIERRA LEONE
MINDFRAME
PROTECTIVE
MYSTIK DAN
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
ANTIQUARIAN
HONOR MARIE
SIERRA LEONE
MINDFRAME
PROTECTIVE
RESILIENCE
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
HONOR MARIE
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
HONOR MARIE
MYSTIK DAN
DORNOCH
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
MYSTIK DAN
SEIZE THE GREY
RESILIENCE
SIERRA LEONE
HONOR MARIE
MINDFRAME
MINDFRAME
SIERRA LEONE
RESILIENCE
MYSTIK DAN
SCENE SETTER: Kentucky Oaks winner THORPEDO ANNA and Black-Eyed Susan winner GUN SONG bring their Churchill and Pimlico victories to Saratoga’s Acorn on the final Friday lead-in to the 2024 Triple Crown. THORPEDO ANNA had been teased as a potential Belmont Stakes entrant, and may have been had trainer Kenny McPeek already not had Kentucky Derby winner MYSTIK DAN for that one. Ashland Stakes 1-2 finishers LESLIE’S ROSE and (’23 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly) JUST FYI are back for another shot at THORPEDO ANNA. From its 1931 inaugural through 2022, the Acorn had been at a 1-mile distance. It expanded to 1-1/16 miles last year at Belmont Park and will be offered at 1-1/8 miles this year, a complete lap of the Saratoga main track.
NOTES:
SCENE SETTER: The 18-1 Kentucky Derby upset by MYSTIK DAN was followed by a similarly surprising Preakness result when SEIZE THE GREY scored at nearly 10-1 odds. What’s in store for a Belmont Stakes held at Saratoga, long dubbed the “Graveyard of Favorites?” The Belmont winner hasn’t been more than 10-1 odds since Creator popped a 16-1 price in 2016. The $1 trifecta in this race has averaged just $110 the past 4 years. But from 1999-2016, this race averaged a nearly 17-1 winner. Might the crazy train stop in Saratoga Springs?
NOTES:
SCENE SETTER: Since Justify’s Triple Crown sweep in 2018, no horse has even doubled up victories in the series. The past 17 Triple Crown races have seen 17 different winners, including MYSTIK DAN and SEIZE THE GREY in this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness, respectively. Might either snap that streak Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, or will Derby runner-up SIERRA LEONE reclaim the spotlight? Horses like Arcangelo and Sir Winston in recent years have found success making their Triple Crown debuts in the final jewel. That’s the hopeful path of contenders like ANTIQUARIAN, THE WINE STEWARD and the unbeaten, but lightly raced, MINDFRAME.
NOTES:
SCENE SETTER: Historic Saratoga Racecourse hosts the Belmont Stakes for the first time – and will do so again in 2025 while Belmont Park undergoes total reconstruction. The venue change is unique in contemporary terms, but note the Belmont Stakes was named for August Belmont, not the track that also bears his name. The Belmont Stakes debuted in 1867, some 38 years before Belmont Park opened. It originated at Jerome Park, moved to Morris Park and eventually to its Elmont home in 1905. From 1963-’67, the Belmont Stakes had a temporary home at Aqueduct as Belmont Park underwent a major renovation.
NOTES:
Kentucky Derby Winner to Win: Justify (2018)
Derby Runner-Up to Win: Empire Maker (2003)
Preakness Winner to Win: Justify (2018)
Preakness Runner-Up to Win: Victory Gallop (1998)
Skipped Derby and Preakness to Win: Arcangelo (2023)
Ran Derby, Skipped Preakness to Win: Mo Donegal (2022)
Jockey to win back-to-back: Laffit Pincay, Jr. (1982-’84 three-peat on Conquistador Cielo, Caveat and Swale)
Jockey to win his debut: Manny Franco (2020 Tiz the Law)
Trainer to win back-to-back: D. Wayne Lukas (1994-‘96 three-peat with Tabasco Cat, Thunder Gulch and Editor’s Note)
Trainer to win debut: Jena Antonucci (2023 Arcangelo)
Filly to win: Rags to Riches (2007)
Filly to compete: Nest (2022, 2nd)
Gelding to win: Ruler On Ice (2011), prior Crème Fraiche (1985)
Wire-to-wire winner: Justify (2018)
Winner to close from more than 10 lengths back: Jazil (2006)
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