5 reasons to watch the Belmont Stakes
By Zoe West
3. (Hopefully) a race you can actually see
One of the commonalities that you may have noticed between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness was the rain. And the mud. In both races, by the time the horses hit the stretch their silks were pretty monotone.
The Preakness was the ultimate expression of this. There were times when you could barely see the horses on TV! They simply ran into the fog, and you had to trust that the announcer knew what was going on.
Both the Derby and Preakness were run on pretty sloppy tracks, which was good for Justify but not so much for some of the others. Since the Belmont is, you know, in June you would hope that the weather is good. This would change the outlook on the race for the horses involved, yes, but it would also change the experience of going to the event and watching it. Watching the Preakness was a wild experience because of the rain and fog, once. But for a repeat experience, clearer weather would be nice.
Also, the track at Belmont Park is significantly larger that the one at Pimlico. So it would be almost impossible to see the horses on the far side if the weather echoed the Preakness.
A clear day and fast track would also provide another test of Justify’s versatility. He’s shown that he can win on a sloppy track against good competition, but how would the track surface change the race for him and the others? To be fair, Justify has also won on a fast track, but not against the same caliber of horse he faced in the Derby and Preakness.