Belmont Notes - May 31

- Sweetnorthernsaint is out of the Belmont, and that seems like a sensible move. He’s yet to show he can win beyond nine furlongs, and he’s had a pretty long campaign. But he better rest up while he can, because it sounds as if he won’t have too much time off.

The first major goal, Trombetta said, will be either the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, or the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer. Both are on Aug. 6.

"I'd like to run him once before then in July," Trombetta said. [Daily Racing Form]

Bob and John (Seeking the Gold) is working lights out in California for the Belmont, and I’d prefer he stay there. It takes a little time for me to get over my animosity towards a horse who, after I pick him to win the Derby in print for scores of readers, runs 17th. But at the same time, there’s also kind of a bond – after all, years from now, long after I’ve forgotten the names of every other horse in the race, I’ll still be able to recall “Yes, I had Bob and John that year. He ran 17th” – and an insistent urge to bet him again. It doesn’t help when you read his jockey excuse the Derby:

"I'm definitely drawing a line through the race," Gomez said. "He's a big colt. He kept getting knocked around the whole time. He got slammed going to the wire the first time, got slammed around the first turn. I finally had him moving forward with some nice progress - I was liking my chances at the half-mile pole - and I had a horse run into my hind inside quarter. [It] completely turned him sideways and he just quit." [DRF]

Baffert said: "He's got the right style for that race.....He's big, with a high cruising speed." His latest work was a bullet (of 22) six furlongs in 1:12.20 at Santa Anita. Don’t get me started...