2009 Belmont Stakes

10 horses are entered for this Saturday's 141st running of the Belmont Stakes. We will have to wait another year for a triple crown winner but jockey Calvin Borel is going for his personal Triple on 2 different horses. Borel won the Derby with Mine that Bird and the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra, Mine that Bird is likely to be the odd on favorite at post time.

PP Horse Jockey ML
1 Chocolate Candy Gomez 10-1
2 Dunkirk Velazquez 4-1
3 Mr. Hot Stuff Prado 15-1
4 Summer Bird Desormeaux 12-1
5 Luv Gov Mena 20-1
6 Charitable Man Garcia 3-1
7 Mine that Bird Borel 2-1
8 Flying Private Leparoux 12-1
9 Miner's Escape Lezcano 15-1
10 Brave Victory Maragh 15-1

On paper, Mine that bird should win the Belmont easily. He is bred for the distance and is the only horse in the field to have ran triple digit Beyers twice (106 and 105). Just in case Mine that Bird didn't fire or ran into traffic problem tomorrow, I am taking a chance on Summer Bird for the the top spot.

Just like the favorite Mine that Bird, Summer Bird is also sired by Birdstone and is breded to run all day. He is also a confirmed closer and has a very similar running style of Mine that Bird. A jockey switch to Desormeaux should help and he has been training at Belmont for 2 weeks to prepare for the big race. I have no idea if he is good enough to beat Mine that bird or even Charitable Man, but at 12-1 he is worth taking a shot.

If it continue to rain tomorrow and the track comes up sloppy, I would probably just use Mine that Bird at the top of my trifacta with ALL except Brave Victory. If the track is fast, I would use both Summer Bird and Mine that Bird on the tri. My backup ticket is Charitable Man with All on my exacta ticket.