Antiquarian
Todd Pletcher knows a thing or two about winning the Belmont. He's won four times and has three potential starters for Saturday's race. Mindframe is likely to have the best odds of the trio, but Antiquarian shouldn't be counted out.
The colt is coming off a win at the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes. It's nearly the same resume that 2023 Belmont winner Arcangelo brought to the table in last year's race. Both were lightly raced colts making their Triple Crown debut in the final race.
Antiquarian showed off a good closing kick to beat fellow Belmont hopeful The Wine Steward down the final stretch.
On the other hand, a poor performance at the Louisiana Derby highlighted his lack of inexperience. A bad break from the gate and a late charge that was too little, too late resulted in a sixth-place finish.
There's a wide variance with the Pletcher trainee, but the payoff could be a quite nice if he runs his best race.
Honor Marie
There's a solid trend (12 of the last 24) of Kentucky Derby runners who didn't win the Run for the Roses coming back and winning the Belmont. If we look at the potential starters there are multiple horses that fit that profile this year.
Sierra Leone (2nd), Resilience (6th), Honor Marie (8th) and Dornoch (10th) all came up short at Churchill Downs. Sierra Leone will likely be the post time favorite so he doesn't qualify as a dark-horse.
If you want to wager on the trend without backing the favorite then Honor Marie is worth a look. The colt had a rough trip under the Twin Spires, coming out of the first turn in 19th place after getting bumped around out of the gate.
It wasn't a true reflection of his talent and the Belmont field should be much smaller. Competing at the same distance this year, he could have his shining moment in New York.
