By US Racing Team
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.
2023 Belmont Stakes Entries
TAPIT TRICE
A disappointing seventh in the Kentucky Derby, over nine lengths behind the winner Mage, Tapit Trice looks to rebound in the Belmont Stakes.
A son of top sire Tapit and winner of four in a row including the Blue Grass before the Derby, Tapit Trice could go off at tempting odds. A worthwhile wager, for sure, in a race in which none of the entrants has ever run 1 ½ miles.
Tapit Trice, trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, posted his final workout before the Belmont Stakes on Saturday (June 3), covering 4 furlongs in 49.89 seconds and galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:02.
“I thought he looked great. He’s getting over the ground really well,” Pletcher said. “He’s a good-moving horse. We were looking to do a little less with him than we were with Forte, since he ran in the Derby and has had two breezes since then. It was more of a maintenance work for him, and it seems like he continues to take to the main track here really well.”
He debuted at Aqueduct in the fall of 2022, unleashing his patented late charge after an eventful trip to finish third, and then ran off a four-race winning streak. In the Blue Grass, after a typically slow start, he collared Verifying in the final 110 yards to win by a neck.
“Yeah [slow out of the gate], that’s him,” Pletcher said prior to the Kentucky Derby, where once again he was started slowly. “We’re not going to make him into a quick horse. The distances, as they stretch out, we always felt like that would make him better.”
2023 Belmont Stakes Contenders: Tapit Trice
Post position: 2
Odds: 3-1
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Luis Saez
Owners: Whisper Hill Farms LLC, Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck)
Career record: 6-4-0-1
Career earnings: $883,650
Best Equibase speed figure: 103
Pedigree: Tapit-Danzatrice, by Dunkirk
Color: Gray
Running style: Closer
Notes: Notes: Tapit has sired four Belmont winners … Pletcher is seeking his fifth Belmont victory … A win and he would become the first trainer since former boss D. Wayne Lukas, who won three in a row from 1994-96, to take back-to-back Belmonts … Tapit Trice was bought for $1.3 million at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale … His name comes from a combination of his parents’ names, Tapit and Danzatrice.
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 |