(Photo credit: Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Golden Tempo and Renegade, the top two finishers in last month's Kentucky Derby, return to the track for the first time since as they highlight a field of nine horses for Saturday's Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The final leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown also serves as a homecoming for Cherie DeVaux, the trainer of Derby winner Golden Tempo and a native of the historic upstate New York town. DeVaux herself made history on May 2 when she became the first female trainer to win the Run for the Roses.
Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo is not entered, just as Golden Tempo did not run the second leg of the Triple Crown on May 16 in Maryland to focus on this Saturday's race.
The good news for Golden Tempo is the field will be much smaller than what he faced at Churchill Downs in Louisville. He was one of 18 horses on the track that day and rallied from being in last place with a half-mile to go to beating Renegade by a neck thanks to a superb stretch run by jockey Jose Ortiz.
The downside, though, is there is far less early speed in the Belmont. That does not bode well for Golden Tempo's closing style.
'We just have to hope that a pace materializes with his running style,' DeVaux said. 'If that does not happen, Jose is going to have to come up with 'Plan B' to where he just doesn't give himself so much to do in the later stages of the race. I think Jose can either get him closer earlier, or he needs to start his run earlier, and that sustained run also is not ideal.'
Golden Tempo drew the outside gate for Saturday's race. However, the colt is not considered the favorite according to oddsmakers, who set him at 9-2.
The favorite instead is Renegade at 2-1. Trained by Todd Pletcher, who is seeking his fifth Belmont win, Renegade stands to benefit from the smaller field as Pletcher noted his colt got 'roughed up' at the start of the Derby.
Pletcher also is looking forward to the rematch.
'That's what you hope for in these Triple Crown races, a chance to, hopefully, turn the tables,' he said.
Renegade drew the fourth post. Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose's brother, gets the mount again. Pletcher also entered Powershift (12-1), who will be ridden by Luis Saez and break from the second gate.
Chief Wallabee (3-1) will try to give trainer Bill Mott his second straight Belmont victory. Under jockey Junior Alvarado, the colt ran fourth in the Derby. It was also his first race wearing blinkers.
'I think we learned that it seems to keep him a little more focused,' Mott said of his colt, who drew the third post.
Commandment (6-1) and Emerging Market (6-1) also ran in Louisville but finished in the middle of the pack.
Commandment trainer Brad Cox thought his horse ran well at Churchill Downs, but 'the dynamics just didn't set up for him.' John Velazquez is the jockey, and they drew the seventh post.
Emerging Market, one of three Belmont entries for trainer Chad Brown, lost a shoe early in the Derby and fell victim to the fast pace. Flavien Prat gets the ride, and they will break from the eighth post.
Traditionally run at 1 1/2 miles, the Belmont is instead just 1 1/4 miles as it's taking place at Saratoga instead of Belmont Park. This will be the last year Saratoga hosts as the Elmont, N.Y., track is in the process of a $550 million overhaul slated for completion before next year's race.
--Field Level Media
