The 156th Belmont Stakes (G1) is Saturday, June 8, at Saratoga Race Course. The 1 ¼-mile race, shortened from 1 ½ miles due to the change of venue as the Belmont Park rebuild continues, is the final leg of the Triple Crown. usracing.com is publishing profiles of the contenders.
Bill Mott is pretty cautious when making decisions, so one would have to believe the Hall of Fame trainer is confident Resilience can rebound from his sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
Resilience, winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in April, posted a solid 4-furlong work in 48.00 on Sunday (June 2) at the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, and is set to go in the Belmont.
In the Kentucky Derby, Resilience was in second place with a quarter-mile to go, but could not catch Mystik Dan, and yielded in deep stretch.
Resilience took four tries to break his maiden, accomplishing that feat on New Year’s Day at Gulfstream Park, under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Riding the colt for the second time six weeks later in the Risen Star at the Fair Grounds, in which he finished fourth, Velazquez noticed a hesitation to pass horses and suggested outfitting the bay colt with blinkers for his next start in the Wood.
“I thought blinkers [would] keep him smart and focused and running,” Velazquez said.
It worked in the Wood. In the Derby, however, Velazquez was aboard the beaten favorite Fierceness, while Junior Alvarado rode Resilience for the first time. In his most recent work, Resilience was blinkers on.
Keith McCalmont of the NYRA press office posted a quote from Mott on X that read: “It was very, very good. The time was good, and he did it the right way. We intentionally wanted him to go out a bit around the turn after the work, which he did.”
Belmont Stakes Betting advice: Other than a win in the Wood, Resilience is 1-for-6. Pass.
Post position: 2
Odds: 10-1
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Trainer: Bill Mott
Owner: Emily Bushnell, Ric Waldman
Career record: 7-2-1-1
Career earnings: $494,630
Top Equibase speed figure: 103
Pedigree: Into Mischief-Meadowsweet, by Smart Strike
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker
Notes: Mott has one victory in the Belmont, with Drosselmeyer in 2010 ... Pam and Marty Wygod bred Resilience and he is co-owned by their daughter, Emily Bushnell, and Ric Waldman, who oversaw the career of influential stallion Storm Cat at Overbrook Farm … Resilience’s debut at Saratoga was an eventful one, hitting the gate at the start, going six-wide on the first turn, getting bounced around at the five-sixteenth pole and having nothing left and finishing sixth.
| PP | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEIZE THE GREY | Jaime Torres | D. Wayne Lukas | MyRacehorse | 8-1 |
| 2 | RESILIENCE | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | Emily Bushnell & Ric Waldman | 10-1 |
| 3 | MYSTIK DAN | Brian Hernandez, Jr. | Kenneth McPeek | Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing LLC & Daniel Hamby III | 5-1 |
| 4 | THE WINE STEWARD | Manny Franco | Mike Maker | Paradise Farms Corp. and Staudacher, David | 15-1 |
| 5 | ANTIQUARIAN | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher | Centennial Farms | 12-1 |
| 6 | DORNOCH | Luis Saez | Danny Gargan | West Paces Racing LLC, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding LLC, Two Eight Racing LLC & Pine Racing Stable | 15-1 |
| 7 | PROTECTIVE | Tyler Gaffalione | Todd Pletcher | Repole Stable | 20-1 |
| 8 | HONOR MARIE | Florent Geroux | Whit Beckman | Ribble Farms LLC | 12-1 |
| 9 | SIERRA LEONE | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | Magnier, Mrs. John, Tabor, Michael B., Smith, Derrick, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing, LLC and Brant, Peter M. | 9-5 |
| 10 | MINDFRAME | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Todd Pletcher | Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC | 7-2 |
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
