At the Belmont Stakes in New York later today, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify has the chance to accomplish one of the greatest feats in horse racing: win the Triple Crown for three-year-old thoroughbreds. In the previous two races, the conditions were wet and the track was muddy...today the prediction is for a dry surface and no precipitation. The Belmont is a longer race than the other two...that may present a problem for Justify, which might not have been able to withstand gaining challenger Bravazo in the Preakness had that race gone on for any longer. Justify was able to get out front early in the first two races, but the fear with the Belmont is that its #1 post position may leave it boxed in if faster starters in nearby positions get ahead early on. Besides the Preakness number two finisher Bravazo is the Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic...and a new entry, Gronkowski. I'm especially concerned about the latter, since fresh horses that haven't been going through this grueling schedule of high-stakes races bunched so closely together tend to do well against Triple Crown aspirants: I remember how Tonality accomplished this by thwarting California Chrome's hopes for that title back in 2014. The Belmont will have ten horses competing...post time has been set at 6:37 pm and the television coverage will be from 2 to 4 this afternoon on the NBC-Sports channel and from 4 onward on NBC. I'll be rooting for Justify, not just because of its Triple Crown run but also for its 52-year-old jockey Mike Smith...middle-age athletes rock! But I'm a bit apprehensive about Bravazo and especially Gronkowski...
Later...Justify won it, leading all the way. As it turned out, longshot Gronkowski, after a terrible start, came back to finish a strong second. Bravazo, an early challenger to Justify, faded a bit and finished back in the pack...
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