Final leg of the Triple Crown: Belmont Stakes

[trifectarich]

No good reason for watching the Belmont.

Oh, contrare . . . my wallet will be very interested in this 2 and a half minutes.

Assuming it's a dry, fast track, I'm using the remainder of my Derby profits and taking the 5, Fly Down, in all my exactas and trifectas.

Good luck to all. See you at the Spa.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Ice Box is going to have a heck of a time winning this race. No speed whatsoever outside of First Dude, and he's not a speed ball. These 1 1/2 mile races are often won by pacesetters or horses with tactical speed, and not by closers as you might think. I'd play against Ice Box and probably go with the other Zito horse, Fly Down (I believe it's a Zito horse).

I find it fascinating that Ice Box is only -110 to win a hundred to FINISH IN THE TOP THREE at Olympic Sports (www.thegreek.com). I think they're
trying to tell us something.

 

[Mark2010]

That the race is wide open? Some horse has to go in as the favorite, eh? They can't all be like 10-1, can they?

 

[Hackwilson191]

I don't care this isn't the Derby at 20-1 and on the rail, you gotta at least some sort of flyer on Calvin Borel.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

That the race is wide open? Some horse has to go in as the favorite, eh? They can't all be like 10-1, can they?

Ice Box will be the favorite, in the 5-2 range. Not for mine.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

I don't care this isn't the Derby at 20-1 and on the rail, you gotta at least some sort of flyer on Calvin Borel.

Over 20-1, you'll get. But this ain't Calvin's preferred venue.

 

[Double Down]

Good piece by Tim Layden on why we don't need to change the TC format.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tim_layden/06/04/belmont-preview/index.html?eref=sihp

 

[Huggy]

I'm going with Fly Down to win and I have that one in boxed exactas with Make Music For Me and Game On Dude.

Bonne chance to all...

 

[Blitz]

I'll take Ice Box and Spangled Star on a 1-2 exacta.

 

[trifectarich]

Beautiful day, five Grade I races on the card, looks like there are plenty of empty seats. Too bad. NYRA needs every dime it can get.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

What time does the race start?

 

[Huggy]

6:30ish I believe.

 

[doubledown68]

So now someone who wasn't involved in the original, far overplayed recording of Let's Hear it for New York is singing it before the Belmont.

So is it a law now that this song has to be played before every significant event in that damn state? Jeebus.

 

[Knighthawk]

I understand Layden's point, but here's why I think it is flawed:

Afleet Alex came up injured after the Belmont and never raced again.
Smarty Jones had chronic ankle problems and never raced again.
Charismatic got hurt in the Belmont and never raced again.
Big Brown raced twice more before getting hurt.

Since Real Quiet, there hasn't been a single horse that has run the Belmont for the Triple Crown and been much good afterward. Funny Cide was decent, I guess, but it takes so much out of the horses that it ruins their careers.

 

[Blitz]

I'll take Ice Box and Spangled Star on a 1-2 exacta.

Me

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Nicky claims Ice Box flipped his palate, which will slow you down.

Theoretically, those of us who hated Ice Box (at 8-5!?!? Good grief) had
something of a 20% inherent advantage in the win pool, but there still
weren't many screaming bargains posted, with the inside two horses
especially-bad prices. Wound up with a very small play on Game On Dude,
who ran respectably throughout and still finished fourth after taking the worst of it in the running in the endgame. The winner WAS WinStar's chief
hope entering the year, but he didn't really find his rhythm until Saturday . . .
and make no mistake -- that was a terribly-slow race . . . about two full
seconds slow, given the track condition and what you might expect
from a representative Belmont field.

 

[Ace]

Nicky claims Ice Box flipped his palate, which will slow you down.

Theoretically, those of us who hated Ice Box (at 8-5!?!? Good grief) had
something of a 20% inherent advantage in the win pool, but there still
weren't many screaming bargains posted, with the inside two horses
especially-bad prices. Wound up with a very small play on Game On Dude,
who ran respectably throughout and still finished fourth after taking the worst of it in the running in the endgame. The winner WAS WinStar's chief
hope entering the year, but he didn't really find his rhythm until Saturday . . .
and make no mistake -- that was a terribly-slow race . . . about two full
seconds slow, given the track condition and what you might expect
from a representative Belmont field.

I went against Ice Box and had the 2-3-4 finishers in my exactas and trifectas. Only thing missing from a big payday was Drosselmeyer. Oh, well.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Nicky claims Ice Box flipped his palate, which will slow you down.

Theoretically, those of us who hated Ice Box (at 8-5!?!? Good grief) had
something of a 20% inherent advantage in the win pool, but there still
weren't many screaming bargains posted, with the inside two horses
especially-bad prices. Wound up with a very small play on Game On Dude,
who ran respectably throughout and still finished fourth after taking the worst of it in the running in the endgame. The winner WAS WinStar's chief
hope entering the year, but he didn't really find his rhythm until Saturday . . .
and make no mistake -- that was a terribly-slow race . . . about two full
seconds slow, given the track condition and what you might expect
from a representative Belmont field.

I went against Ice Box and had the 2-3-4 finishers in my exactas and trifectas. Only thing missing from a big payday was Drosselmeyer. Oh, well.

His training in bar shoes freaked me. Always does. That freak has saved
me a lot of money, but not Saturday.

 

[Starman]

Drosselmeyer's time, 2:31.57, would have been forty-five (45) lengths behind Secretariat. :o :o

 

[trifectarich]

Drosselmeyer's time, 2:31.57, would have been forty-five (45) lengths behind Secretariat. :o :o

Probably not that much of a gap, but I get your point.