figure I'd start a new thread for my belmont selection..
got a chance to look at the PP's without knowing the post of course.. don't think that'd change my mind anyway in this race no matter where free drop billy lands
stellar 2yo campaign prior to the breeders cup juvenile..
not sure what happened there and it might be that he was just a little tired from the 4 big races he ran prior.. these included first out maiden win at churchill//race 2 -2nd
by a length with a tough trip in the sanford at saratoga/3rd race was a neck loss in the G1 hopefull where he was closing while 5 wide in the upper stretch and the chart callers comment was "good energy"// 4th start was a win in the grade 1 keeneland futurity at 8.5f..by far the most accomplished juvenile record in this race and to me that's not unimportant.. like the early seasoning even at this stage of the campaign
first race as a 3yo a 2nd in the holy bull at gulfstream and that is fine to me.. he was 3rd in the gotham next with a very wide trip but I like his running line related to running in the belmont.. very even race all the way around as he passed 4 horses and gradually dropped back about 3 lengths over the course of the race.. I find horses who do this often like to go further so a positive for me.. ran 4th in the blue grass and was placed 3rd via disqualification of sporting chance who bore out beyond badly.. looked like he had some horse in the stretch but no way was he going to win that one.. in the derby broke from the 2 post which isn't ideal and with the condition of that track I'm just tossing that one
now he gets 5 weeks rest and I really think he's up to a big race.. 2 blazing fast workouts at churchill (47.3 b 1/51)
(59.3 b 2/25) say to me he's doing well.. dale romans definitely one of the better trainers in the country so he's in good hands in that respect.. he's by union rags out of a stakes winning giant's causeway mare which is above average distance pedigree..
justify is an automatic bet against for me for obvious reasons.. a concrete stat against him is since 2000 the belmont winner has come from the derby or preakness winner 4 times in 36 attempts and two of those of course were american pharoah.. I also don't like that he won both of the 1st 2 legs on sloppy tracks.. I feel the surface (big sandy) and distance are enough of a challenge without having to deal with a new track condition(hopefully) that you didn't face in the first 2 legs.. maybe that's being a little picky but all in all like the package your getting here