Bad luck kept the rescheduled Belmont Stakes from drawing a better field
Five things of interest, to me anyway.
It is Belmont Stakes Day. It shouldn’t be Belmont Stakes Day. That was supposed to have happened on June 6 as the final race of the Triple Crown. Same as it (almost) ever was. COVID-19 tore up the schedule. With the Kentucky Derby set for Sept. 5 and the Preakness set for Oct. 3, the last classic shall be first.
Actually, you have to be disappointed in the strength of Saturday’s field. Reduced to a shorter distance (1 mile and an 1/8 instead of a mile-and-a-half), the Belmont seemed set to draw heavy hitters. Bad luck intervened. The undefeated Nadal suffered a condylar fracture. The undefeated Charlatan was pulled from the Derby trail because of filling in his ankle. Maxfield opted for the Blue Grass at Keeneland, only to suffer another injury. Others are waiting for the Blue Grass Stakes on July 11 and the Haskell on July 18.
That leaves Tiz the Law as the clear Belmont favorite. Our Ben Roberts picked the Florida Derby winner to prevail in his Belmont handicapping post. I can’t disagree. Runner-up is the question. Ben went with Dr Post, trained by Todd Pletcher. I’m going with Modernist, trained by Bill Mott.
Side note: Saratoga announced its stakes schedule Friday. The Travers Stakes is being moved from Aug. 29, a week before the Derby, to August 9.
[In covering a Belmont like no other, NBC’s Kenny Rice has one worry]
The daily COVID freak-out. Clemson announced Friday that 28 athletes, including 23 student-athletes, had tested positive for COVID-19. The Philadelphia Phillies said five of its players had tested positive at its spring training complex in Clearwater, Fla. The Toronto Blue Jays shut down their Florida spring training facility after a pitcher experienced COVID symptoms.
The best story, however, came out of UCLA. Thirty Bruins signed a document demanding that a third-party health official be on hand for all football actives because they do not trust head coach Chip Kelly will follow COVID-19 protocols. Not the kind of story you want to see if you’re a coach recruiting.
Side note: A total of 27 workers have tested positive at Keeneland.
PFF love for Boogie Watson. The analytics-based Pro Football Focus out of Cincinnati, owned by Cris Collinsworth, continued its love for Kentucky football with this tweet declaring UK’s Boogie Watson as the top returning SEC pass rusher.
Jamal Adams wants out of New York.. The former LSU star might be the best safety in the NFL. As for the local tie-in, he’s also the son of former UK and Lafayette High School star running back George Adams. Jamal wants to get paid. The Jets aren’t sure they want to do that. So Adams wants to be traded.
He’s on the fourth year of his five-year rookie deal. He also claims the Jets have reneged on a promise to offer him a new contract in January. He also reportedly said Friday he would love to play in Tampa Bay for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, his former head coach with the Jets.
MLB keeps shooting itself in the foot. Meanwhile, Lexington’s own Walker Buehler is getting in work.
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 8:54 AM.
