LEXINGTON, Ky. — After winning the Peter Pan Stakes by 10 1/4 lengths, We the People was installed as the 2-1 favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, who did not run in the Preakness on May 21, is the third choice at 7-2 with Wood Memorial winner Mo Donegal the second choice at 5-2 in the morning line for the eight-horse field.
“He’s done real good since he’s been here,” Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed said after the draw. “He’s training better every day.”
Post time for the third leg of the Triple Crown is set for approximately 6:49 p.m. NBC has the television coverage from 5-7 p.m. CNBC will provide coverage from Belmont Park from 3-5 p.m.
We the People has won three of his four career races. His lone loss was a seventh-place finish in the Arkansas Derby on April 2 at Oaklawn Park. The son of Constitution bounced back with an impressive wire-to-wire score in the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont on May 14.
“I thought it was nice of you,” trainer Rodolphe Brissett said when asked about his horse being made the favorite. “I don’t look at the odds, but it makes sense.”
After We the People (2-1), Mo Donegal (5-2), Rich Strike (7-2), Creative Minister (6-1), Nest (8-1), Barber Road (10-1), Golden Glider (20-1) and Skippylongstocking (20-1) complete the field.
Mo Donegal finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Belmont three times — Tapwrit in 2017; Palace Malice in 2013 and the filly Rags to Riches in 2007.
Pletcher has a filly in this year’s Belmont in Nest, who ran second to Secret Oath in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6.
“Both have trained super,” Pletcher said Tuesday. “We came in right after the Derby was over. Both have trained together and breezed together all three times.”
Pletcher indicated that Mo Donegal might favor the unusual mile-and-a-half distance of the race.
“He’s a horse definitely from the very beginning showed us he wanted to go longer,” the trainer said. “I thought he ran a very credible race in the Derby. He drew the No. 1 post and didn’t break well.”
As for Nest, Pletcher said, “We nominated her (for the Triple Crown in January) with the Belmont as a possibility. She’s a filly that’s well-bred for this race.”
Creative Minister is the only horse in the Belmont who ran on both Kentucky Derby day and Preakness day. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Creative Minister won an allowance optional claiming race on May 7 at Churchill Downs. He then finished third behind Early Voting and Epicenter in the Preakness.
“He’s progressed really, really well, this horse,” McPeek said after the draw, adding that the son of Creative Cause has taken to the Belmont Park surface and surroundings. “Fantastic. He’s bitten everybody that’s handled him all week. You like to see that. He’s aggressive.”
McPeek won the 2002 Belmont Stakes with 70-1 shot Sarava. That year, McPeek took Sarava straight to New York after he won the Sir Barton on Preakness day at Pimlico. He took the same tact with Creative Minister.
“This horse has got a real chance,” McPeek said.
Trained by Johnny Ortiz, Barber Road ran sixth in the Kentucky Derby after a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby.
Trained by Saffie Joseph, Skippylongstocking finished fifth in the Preakness last time out after a third-place showing in the Wood Memorial. Golden Glider ran second to We the People in the Peter Pan. Trained by Mark Casse, Golden Glider ran fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 9.
As a closer, the 80-1 shot Rich Strike benefited from an extremely fast pace in the Kentucky Derby. On paper, at least, there does not appear to be the potential for much pace in the Belmont.
How will that affect the Kentucky Derby winner?
“He’s probably still going to drop back, but probably not as far,” Reed said. “That’s his style of running.”
