WHO’S YOUR EARLY BELMONT FAVORITE?
The Baltimore Sun published a short post in their Preakness Insider blog asking who the early favorite for the Belmont should be: Ice Box or First Dude? Ice Box seems to have the early love after his hard charging second place in the Kentucky Derby but many were impressed with First Dude’s very strong second in the Preakness Stakes.
My personal favorite was Setsuko after an impressive charge in the Santa Anita Derby, but now that he has been pulled due to swelling in his ankles, I’m probably back to one of the aforementioned frontrunners. Where do you stand, Ice Box, First Dude or perhaps another potential entry?
Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think
Tags: Baltimore Sun, belmont stakes, bradford cummings, First Dude, Ice Box, Paulick Report, Preakness Insider, Preakness Stakes, Setsuko
May 20th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
My guess is that Ice Box will go off as the post-time favorite; however the smart money will be on the other Zito horse, Fly Down
May 20th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
My guess is that Ice Box will go off as the post-time favorite; however the smart money will be on the other Zito horse, Fly Down
+1
May 20th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Drosselmeyer. It’s Win Star’s year and I think both Mott and Smitty get off the Belmont schneid with a victory. Plus, the horse has talent and I think the Dwyer was the perfect setup race for him.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:44 am
Fly Down and First Dude have gone at it before but First Dude is a different horse now. His Preakness was just short of amazing. We may be looking at the new star of the 3 year old division. First Dude goes wire to wire for the Belmont win and will be my pick in the Travers too.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:46 am
What ANYONE sees in Drosselmeyer I have NO IDEA. Unless you have a child named Drosselmeyer there is no reason at all to bet on this horse.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:49 am
I’m with you on that, Draynay.
Obvious choice: Ice Box because of his very late running style. Longshot: Stay Put
May 21st, 2010 at 11:15 am
Ice Box and Stately Victor
May 21st, 2010 at 5:25 pm
In 2002 we were at the Belmont hoping to see War Emblem win the Triple. We were looking at the starters before the race and my brother was laughing at a horse named Sarava because he looked like a “swayback nag”.
An old man told him that “swayback nag” had an excellent chance of winning at huge odds. He said the horse wasn’t actually swayback, but his back was so long it made him look swayback. He further explained that a long back in Thoroughbreds indicates distance/marathon ability, while a short back usually indicates sprint/miler ability.
We thought the old man’s back length advice was just an old wives tale, but after Sarava won we took him seriously. I’ve been betting the Belmont based on back length ever since and it usually works.
Long story short = Fly Down is the long backed horse in this year’s Belmont. Stately Victor has a noticeably long back too.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:59 am
First Dude ran a monster race in the Preakness. If he can just take even a half step forward, he will be your Belmont winner. He has the pedigree, the SIZE, the scope , the stride and more importantly, the running style. He is a big, fast galloper and I think he has the stamina that you need for the mile and a half. But he also has the tactical speed to lay up close. Even his gallop out in the Preakness was impressive.If all goes well for him in the next couple of weeks, then they all have him to beat. To me, he looks like a star in the making,