Belmont Stakes
The last leg of the Triple Crown is this Saturday, but it will be held at Saratoga instead of Belmont Park (due to construction). That means for the first time since 1905, the traditional 1½ mile race will be just 1¼.
Saratoga is the home track for Sierra Leone trainer Chad Brown, and they skipped the Preakness to focus on the Belmont. The horse will be the sentimental favorite for the home crowd. But after jockey Jockey Tyler Gaffalione got fined for making contact with Forever Young in the Derby, Chad Brown will have a new jockey on SierraLeone, Flavien Prat.
I really liked Sierra Leone in the Derby, the horse just has that it factor. Being a descendant of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew might have something to do with that.
I usually don't like going with the favorites at the track because you don't get good odds, but Sierra Leone is the favorite here and I think deservedly so. Will update on race day, but right now I'm going with:
Sierra Leone
Seize The Grey
Mindframe or Mystic Dan
The T1B Triple Crown standings are:
Seer $14.20
Roux $9.78
Smackie $9.74
Biggie $6.54
HPG $2.80
In other words, if your longshot comes thru for you, you can still win the year, even if you haven't picked a winner in the first two races.
