SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Most of the horses reportedly considered for the Belmont are among the 10 entries drawn for Saturday’s race at Saratoga Race Course. The main no-show is Fierceness, last year’s juvenile champ who finished fifteenth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Todd Pletcher said his charge needs more time off and will be pointed instead to the Haskell Stakes on July 20.
The expected Belmont field is a relatively strong one. It includes the 1-2 finishers in the Derby (Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone), plus winners of the Preakness (Seize the Grey). Wood Memorial (Resilience, 10-1) and Peter Pan (Antiquarian, 12-1).
The most intriguing entrant in this year’s Belmont, however, is Mindframe. The Maryland-bred son of Constitution is attempting to accomplish something no horse has since at least the early 1950s, and possibly ever: winning the Belmont in just his third career start. Mindframe broke his maiden at seven furlongs by 13 ¾ lengths on March 30. Five weeks later, he won an opening-level allowance by 7 1/2. The Belmont will be his first stakes start and his first beyond 8 ½ furlongs.
Oddsmakers think the Todd Pletcher trainee has a big shot here. He is listed as the second choice on the morning line at 7-2, behind only Sierra Leone at 9-5. Classic winners Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey are listed at 5-1 and 8-1, respectively. Irad Ortiz Jr, who piloted Mindframe to victory in his first two starts, will be aboard on Saturday.
Ken McPeek, the trainer of Mystik Dan, has a different view of Mindframe’s chances.
“I was very surprised Mindframe was the second choice,” Ken McPeek said Wednesday at bloodhorse.com. “Very surprised. But admittedly, up here at Saratoga, [people] bet on Chad (Brown) and Todd (Pletcher). Mindframe hasn’t run in a stakes, but he has run fast, although last time he had a really slow pace. He’s going to get some pace on Saturday.”
Mystik Dan, who was never far back in the Derby and Preakness, may provide part of that pace. Seize the Grey went gate to wire in the mud at Pimlico. And Dornoch (15-1) won the Remsen and Fountain of Youth on the lead. Quick fractions would probably benefit Sierra Leone most of all. The Belmont favorite lingered near the back for much of the Derby before coming up a nose short at the wire. If the pace is hot enough, Honor Marie (12-1) and Antiquarian might be eligible to clunk up for a piece.
The rest of the Belmont field consists of Resilience (10-1, The Wine Steward (15-1) and Protective (20-1).
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Chad Brown has 18 horses in graded stakes on Friday and Saturday at Saratoga. They include morning-line favorites in the Belmont (Sierra Leone), Manhattan (Program Trading), Poker (Carl Speckler), and the top five betting choices in the Just a Game (led by Whitebeam).
Remembering Holy Bull
Saudi Crown, Arabian Knight, and Charge It were among the horses reportedly being considered for what shaped up to be a bang-up edition of the Met Mile. When entries were drawn on Monday, though, Saudi Crown and Arabian Knight were not among them – and Charge It was entered instead in the Suburban Stakes, which will also be run on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes card at Saratoga.
That left a field of six for the historic race, with White Abarrio assigned favoritism at 6-5. National Treasure is next at 8-5, followed by sprinting specialist Post Time at 7-2, Blazing Sevens (8-1), Hoist the Gold (15-1), and Castle Chaos (20-1)
This year’s Met Mile follows two of the more decisive and memorable editions of the race: the open-length victories by eventual horses of the year Flightline (2022) and Cody’s Wish (2023). Other notable recent runnings of the 133-year-old race include Frosted’s record-setting performance in 2016 (he won by 14 ¼ lengths in a stakes-record time of 1:32.73) and Ghostzapper’s career-ending tour-de-force in 2005.
Still, if one had to pick one Met Mile that stood out above the others, the vote here would go back 30 years to the 1994 edition won by Holy Bull. It was a dramatic moment for the future Hall of Famer, who was coming off a mystifying 12th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Bettors stuck with Holy Bull in the Met Mile, sending the three-year-old colt off at even-money against a stellar field of older horses that included Devil His Due, Colonial Affair, Tinners Way, Cherokee Run, Virginia Rapids and West by West.
Holy Bull ran them all into the ground, drawing off through the stretch to triumph by 5 ½ widening lengths. It was the first of five consecutive graded wins (four of them G1s) in a horse-of-the-year campaign that included his unforgettable Travers stretch duel with Concern and another rout of top older horses in the Woodward.
