American Pharoah wins the Triple Crown - 2015 Belmont Stakes (G1)
Exaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Exaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEINExaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Exaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEINKentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator gets a bath as his trainer Keith Desormeaux, left, keeps an eye on him Friday May 20, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator gets a bath as his trainer Keith Desormeaux, left, keeps an eye on him Friday May 20, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEINExaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Exaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEINExaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Exaggerator with jockey Kent Desormeaux wins the 141st running of The Preakness Stakes May 21, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEINExaggerator is horse to beat in Belmont Stakes
The end of the Triple Crown road is here.
The Belmont Stakes, the final race of the three-part series, will be run Saturday at Belmont Park on Long Island.
And with no Triple Crown on the line, the star of the day could be Exaggerator, who comes into the 11/2-mile Belmont as the horse to beat. He was second in the Kentucky Derby and won the Preakness.
Exaggerator has a chance to become the 19th horse to pull off the Preakness-Belmont double. The last time a horse won the last two legs of the Triple Crown without winning the Kentucky Derby was in 2005, by Afleet Alex.
There is only one other horse expected to run in the Belmont who will have competed in all three legs of the Triple Crown. That"s the Japanese-based Lani, who was ninth in the Derby and fifth in the Preakness.
Among the others expected to run are Preakness runner-up Cherry Wine; Stradivari, fourth in the Preakness; and a handful of Derby runners, including Suddenbreakingnews (fifth), Destin (sixth) and Brody"s Cause (seventh).
The race, though, is expected to go through Exaggerator.
"Exaggerator is the horse to beat," said Donnie Von Hemel, who trains Suddenbreakingnews. "To be quite honest, he"s the most likely winner."
The Belmont Stakes
When: Saturday
Where: Belmont Park, Elmont
Approximate post time: 6:32 p.m.
TV: NBC (WNYT-13) 5-7 p.m.; NBCSN 7-7:30 p.m.
Exaggerator, who won the Saratoga Special in his third career start last year, will be making his 12th start in the Belmont. It also will be his sixth start of the season. So far, there has been no evidence that the horse is on the decline. He shows up and runs his race every time trainer Keith Desormeaux leads him over.
He has finished off the board only twice in his life. The first came in his first career start, when he was fifth behind Nyquist, who would go on to win the Kentucky Derby. Exaggerator was fourth in the Breeders" Cup Juvenile last year, again losing to Nyquist. Exaggerator has won five of 11 career starts.
Nyquist, who finished third in the Preakness, went to the sidelines after he came down with a fever and it was discovered he had an elevated white blood-cell count. The rematch of the Derby and Preakness winner in the Belmont would be the next best thing to a Triple Crown try. Instead, it"s up to Exaggerator.
"It sure seems like Exaggerator has jazzed up some people," Desormeaux said. "Maybe they like the name, and they like his running style, the distance of his wins. Hopefully we can get some fans that are not everyday fans to come in and watch us compete. Hopefully, we can provide them with a good show."
Exaggerator is ridden by Desormeaux"s Hall of Fame brother, Keith. Two of his biggest wins have come on off tracks: the Preakness and the Santa Anita Derby.
The Belmont is hardly ever won by horses that come from way off the pace and that is the way Exaggerator runs.
Keith Desormeaux said his horse will be closer to the pace in the Belmont than he was in the Derby and Preakness. Other trainers of closers such as Suddenbreakingnews, Brody"s Cause and Cherry Wine have said the same thing.
The Belmont doesn"t look to have a horse that will want to go to the lead from the gate. And that makes the race very interesting. Exaggerator seems to have the breeding for the Belmont distance, as he is a son of Curlin, who was nipped in the Belmont in 2007, when the filly Rags to Riches won.
"Exaggerator is a very talented horse," said trainer Dale Romans, who will run Brody"s Cause and Cherry Wine. "Nobody is going to tower over this field, because the mile and a half is the question. There are very few horses that ever tower over the field in a Classic race. Last year was a year that maybe they did, but there"s very few that do."
twilkin@timesunion.com 518-454-5415 @tjwilkin
Source: http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-sports/article/Exaggerator-is-horse-to-beat-in-Belmont-Stakes-7963611.php
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