At last the Belmont Stakes has arrived and along with it a live horse with perhaps the best chance to win the Triple Crown in the past 10 years. His name is California Chrome and he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with aplomb.
Much of the horse racing landscape knocked him for his relatively slow Kentucky Derby time. He came back and scorched the field in the Preakness, silencing those who thought he got lucky in the Kentucky.
He’s been training brilliantly at Belmont Park and giving every indication that his best race may be this one on Saturday. Art Sherman, his trainer, sure thinks so.
“I feel better about this race than I have any other race, to be honest with you, just looking at the horse and saying, ‘Wow,’” Sherman said. “I see how far he’s advanced. I know it’ll be tougher going a mile and a half, but this horse is a good horse. I think he’s the real McCoy. They better worry about me, I can tell you that.”
Ten other horses take aim at California Chrome (Post 2, 3-5), six of them from the Kentucky Derby. Nine of the last 11 Belmont Stakes were won by horses that ran in the Derby. Included in that nine is the filly Rags to Riches, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2007 and then came back five weeks later to beat Curlin in the Belmont. The winner will likely be one of those six horses.
“There’s a lot of fresh horses taking shots at me. He’s going to have a target on his back,” Sherman said. “It’s going to be a jockey race. [Espinoza] will just have to maneuver him to the right spot and just sit there and not move too quick. It’s a long race. He just needs to have a good trip; that’s all I hope for.”
Of those fresher horses is Wicked Strong (Post 9, 6-1), fourth place in the Kentucky Derby as the second choice. He came running late, but California Chrome was too swift at the quarter pole and drew away. Wicked Strong skipped the Preakness and has been training very well at his home base at Belmont Park for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.
“I’m pretty confident; as confident as I can be,” said Jerkens, whose colt won the Grade I Wood Memorial back in April. “I really like how he’s doing. I think we’re going into the race as good as we can hope. It’s a big, prestigious race and people are going to take a shot, especially with the distance being a big question for everybody. People are more apt to take a shot here than anywhere.”
Riding up on California Chrome late in the Preakness Stakes was Ride On Curlin (Post 5, 15-1), a deep closer who has yet to break through to the next level. Ride On Curlin manages to hit the board with regularity, but can’t catch the leaders. He ran his best race in the Preakness and he’s back in the Belmont for more.
“I knew he was a tough horse, but he runs hard and always comes out of his races and eats everything and he’s real sound,” said Billy Gowan, who trains Ride On Curlin for owner Daniel J. Dougherty. “He’s come out of every race just super and wanting more, so we might as well give it to him.”
Ride On Curlin finished seventh in the Derby after a troubled trip under Calvin Borel. Joel Rosario gave him a great ride to finish second in the Preakness. Who’s riding him now? John Velazquez gets the mount in the third leg of the Triple Crown.
“Hopefully, another five-sixteenths of a mile and we’ll be able to catch him as opposed to the Preakness, but that Chrome is going to be hard to catch,” Gowan said. “He doesn’t have a lot of quit in him. I’m just happy to be here. I’m a racing fan like everybody else. I’ve always wanted a Triple Crown, but hopefully not this year. If we can win it and he runs second, that’d be fine.”
Samraat (Post 7, 20-1), unbeaten in five starts before finishing second in the Wood Memorial and fifth in the Derby, is back for a crack at the Belmont. He’s had some distance concerns, but his trainer Rick Violette thinks too highly of Samraat to leave him in the barn on June 7.
“He deceptively galloped out real good after the pressure was up in the Derby,” said Rick Violette, who trains Samraat for Leonard Riggio’s My Meadowview Stable. “I don't think we would change a day or a stride. Everything has been eerily spot on. His breeze the other day, he doesn’t break stopwatches but it was a goosebump breeze, as easily as he accelerated and galloped out. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Ultimately, this latest renewal of the Belmont Stakes is all about California Chrome and whether he can be the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. The drought has gone on far too long. There have been noses on the wire (Victory Gallop beating Real Quiet in 1998). There have been kamikaze attacks that resulted in a one-length loss (Smarty Jones in 2004).
Will California Chrome close the deal? Or will he be yet another in an increasingly long list of horses that got within a whiff of the Triple Crown before falling short, making racing fans wait another 47 weeks for next year’s Derby and next year’s run at the Crown?
“You think about it, 36 years and nobody’s won the Triple Crown. It’d be quite an honor,” Sherman said. “If you would have said to me the first of the year that I would be on the Triple Crown trail, I would say, ‘You’re kidding me.’ So here I am, hoping that we can get the final race. It would mean a lot to racing, I can tell you that. It’s a great honor to win the Triple Crown. I would be very deeply happy if it happens.”
Rounding out the field are Medal Count (Post 1, 20-1), Matterhorn (Post 3, 30-1), Commanding Curve (Post 4, 15-1), Matuszak (Post 6, 30-1), Commissioner (Post 8, 20-1), General a Rod (Post 10, 20-1) and Tonalist (Post 11, 8-1).
