Horse racing is getting a rematch of the top trio from last month’s Kentucky Derby this weekend at the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of a Triple Crown series that this year has gained much of its intrigue from who was missing during the second leg three weeks ago at the Preakness Stakes.
Derby winner Sovereignty and runner-up Journalism, who won the Preakness two weeks later at Baltimore’s Pimilico Race, headline the field of eight horses in the Belmont. Add in Baeza, and the top three finishers from the first Saturday in May at Louisville’s Churchill Downs are set to run on the first Saturday in June at New York’s Saratoga Race Course, the upstate venue hosting the Triple Crown finale for the second year in a row as Long Island’s aging Belmont Park is rebuilt.
The race is set to return next year to its namesake venue and its traditional “Test of the Champion” length of 1 1/2 miles, but running at Saratoga means this year’s Belmont will again be 1 1/4 miles — the same distance as the Derby and only 1/16 of a mile shorter than the Preakness.
“We’re delighted to have the first three horses out of the Derby challenging each other again,” said Michael Banahan of Godolphin, the stable that owns Sovereignty. “It’s a quality race. … It should set up well, and may the best horse win.”
Journalism opened as the 8-5 morning line favorite with Sovereignty the second choice at 4-1. Journalism won the Preakness, which was run without Sovereignty after the Derby champion’s owners and trainer opted to give their horse extra rest.
The intent was to focus on the Belmont rather than chase the chance for Sovereignty to become the sport’s 14th Triple Crown champion and first since Justify in 2018.
“We felt that the best thing for him and to have a career through the whole season, and maybe into next year as well, was spacing his races a little bit,” Banahan said. “Bill Mott, who’s trained horses for us for a long time, is very judicious about where he wants to place his horses. And we put a lot of faith in the recommendations that he would give us.”
Journalism, trained by Michael McCarthy, is the only horse this year running in all three legs of the Triple Crown, which is for 3-year-old thoroughbreds. And he is the favorite for a reason.
“Journalism is a very tough horse,” said John Shirreffs, who trains Baeza. “One thing about Journalism, (if) he runs his race (like in) Kentucky, Pimlico, he’s very tough. He’s solid. So, it’s going to be a very difficult horse to beat.”
Shirrefs said Baeza is emerging and developing, and he hopes the half-brother of last year’s Belmont winner, Dornoch, can stride along and get past Sovereignty and Journalism this time.
“Hopefully we get out of the gate well and get a nice pace,” Shirrefs said. “It’s just the how the race unfolds and him not getting into any trouble.”
Long shot Heart of Honor is running again after finishing fifth in the Preakness. New to the Triple Crown trail are Hill Road, Uncaged, Crudo and Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Derby with a minor foot bruise that also caused him to miss the Preakness.
Banahan expects Rodriguez to go to the lead and provide the main speed. That’s often the case for the top horses trained by Baffert, a U.S. Racing Hall of Famer who saddled both Justify and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
“That horse is going to be ready,” Chad Brown, trainer of Hill Road, said of Rodriguez. “You can be assured of that. And it sure looks like he’s by far the fastest horse in the race.”
Brown has won the Preakness twice, but never the Belmont. After going to Saratoga with his parents while growing up and getting into horse racing as a result, he’s hoping to end his drought at his home track in its rare opportunity as a Triple Crown stand-in.
“To be part of history with that,” Brown said, “that would be extra special.”