By US Racing Team
2023 Belmont Stakes Entries
The $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (G1) is the final leg of the Triple Crown. The 155th running of the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion” is Saturday, June 10. US Racing will be publishing profiles on all the contenders, including updated versions with odds and post-positions following the gate draw on Tuesday, June 6.
It doesn’t seem like Raise Cain is ready to raise his game for the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Then again, at 1 ½ miles, the Belmont Stakes is a longer distance than most horses ever run so perhaps the field will even out in the final quarter mile.
Eighth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 6, Raise Cain did not run in the Preakness (G1) two weeks later, but trainer Ben Colebrook expects a showing that could be profitable.
The Gotham (G3) winner worked at Keeneland this week, covering 5 furlongs in 1:05.60 — a slow time that still did not deter the trainer. He galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:19.20.
“He worked slow, but it was halfway by design,” Colebrook said. “The other part, (Gerardo) Corrales overdid it. I wanted to go in 1:02, 1:03; he went 1:05. The track was a bit looser, but it was more of a stamina work.”
While Corrales was aboard in the Derby, Junior Alvarado has the call for the Belmont.
Although beaten 10 lengths by Derby winner Mage, Colebrook noted his horse was forced to check at the eighth pole.
“I wish he would have had a little more room late because he still had horse left when he got banged in there,” Colebrook said. “I thought it was a pretty good run. I think he could have been a little closer with a little bit of a cleaner trip.”
In the Derby, he also finished behind expected Belmont starters Angel of Empire, Hit Show, and Tapit Trice.
2023 Belmont Stakes Contenders: Raise Cain
Post position: TBD
Odds: TBD
Trainer: Ben Colebrook
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Owners: Andrew N. Warren, Rania Warren
Career record: 8-2-1-1
Career earnings: $296,328
Best Equibase speed figure: 93
Pedigree: Violence-Lemon Belle, by Lemon Drop Kid
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Notes: Colebrook trained Knicks Go, who won the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) in 2018 and ran second in the BC Juvenile (G1) before being transferred to trainer Brad Cox in November 2019 and going on to become 2021 Horse of the Year … The owners have been racing since 2020 and Raise Cain is their first graded stakes winner … This will be Alvarado’s third Belmont – he finished sixth aboard Unstoppable U in 2016 and seventh aboard Modernist in 2020 … Raise Cain was bought for $65,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale in 2022 after selling for $180,00 at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2021.
2023 Belmont Stakes Contenders, Odds and Post Positions
| PP | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapit Shoes | 3-1 | Brad H. Cox | Jose Ortiz |
| 2 | Tapit Trice | 3-1 | Todd A. Pletcher | Luis Saez |
| 3 | Arcangelo | 8-1 | Jena M. Antonucci | Javier Castellano |
| 4 | National Treasure | 5-1 | Bob Baffert | John R. Velazquez |
| 5 | Il Miracolo | 30-1 | Antonio Sano | Marcos Meneses |
| 6 | Forte | 5-2 | Todd A. Pletcher | Irad Ortiz, Jr. |
| 7 | Hit Show | 10-1 | Brad H. Cox | Manuel Franco |
| 8 | Angel of Empire | 7-2 | Brad H. Cox | Flavien Prat |
| 9 | Red Route One | 15-1 | Steve M. Asmussen | Joel Rosario |