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1973 Belmont Stakes from a jockey's perspective

Moss: Blinded by the hype

Orseno denies 'Bullet' is definite for Belmont



McKay: Waiting for a rivalry to unfold


As of now, there are only two horses running in the Belmont Stakes that were in the Preakness -- the Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus; and Impeachment, who finished third again as he did in the Kentucky Derby. Impeachment was closing very fast in both of those races.

However, there will be several -- five or six horses -- who either ran the Derby and skipped the Preakness or haven't run in either one that will line up on June 10. One that comes to mind most quickly is Aptitude. He was my pick in the Derby, but he finished second and then passed up the Preakness to prepare for Belmont. He's being rested very well. Aptitude is bred is for distance, perhaps the mile and a half for Belmont will serve him well. It's probably the only time in many of these horses' careers that they will run a mile and a half since that distance just isn't run very much any more.

 
  Aptitude could be the horse to beat in the June 10 Belmont Stakes.
The next thing we have to look at is whether or not Red Bullet and Fusaichi Pegasus is a great rivalry in the tradition of Affirmed and Alydar. We won't find out in the Belmont, but maybe further down the road, perhaps in the Travers Stakes.Until then, 3-year old supremacy will be wide-open.

My most memorable Belmont had to have been last year with Charismatic trying for the Triple Crown. Wayne Lukas' colt ran very bravely before breaking down. If his jockey, Chris Antley, hadn't jumped off him immediately after the finish line and held up his leg, he probably wouldn't be here today. It's quite possible that the fracture happened at the head of the stretch, but with the great heart that all good horses have, he continued on and did get past the finish line to finish third.

This is our final Belmont Stakes on ABC, but we cannot have any feelings of sadness or bitterness after having 26 Kentucky Derbies, 24 Preaknesses and 15 Belmont Stakes. That is a record no network and certainly no commentators have ever had before. That feels pretty good.

As I have said, any feeling of nostalgia or sadness will come next year. A week or two before the Triple Crown starts, I may feel the absence of being involved. All we can do right now is work all these races one at a time. We have to do it the way we have always done them and see what happens.



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