WILLISTON, FL (352today.com) – The final leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown may look a bit different this year, it will be held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., instead of Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., and the race itself will be contested at a shorter distance, at 1 1/4-miles, instead of the traditional mile-and -a-half.
And although there won’t be a Triple Crown on the line, the race will feature a deep field of 10 runners, with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness winner Seize the Gray among the entries.
However, the horse that has been made the morning line favorite for Saturday’s race is a familiar name: Sierra Leone. The colt placed second in this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Sierra Leone was broken and trained at Oak Ridge Training Center in Williston by David Scanlon. The $2.3 million sales purchase possessed the look of a horse that was destined for greater things.
“He was a beautiful yearling,” said Scanlon. “I remember him getting off the van. He had a big, nice, leggy body. One thing that always struck me was that he had a big, sweeping athletic walk.”
The Kentucky Derby runner-up also possessed a good mind, was straight forward and level-headed as a yearling. It’s been fun for Scanlon to see Sierra Leone live up to his promise and potential.
“He really loves what he’s doing,” said Scanlon. “He kind of relishes his job. He’s a horse that when he goes out there, he does it with a real enthusiastic demeanor. He’s like a big kid having fun.”
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Scanlon could see the promise and potential. He thought he would develop later in his 2-year-old year or as a 3-year-old, and he has proven correct in his assessment.
“He would do things really easy, and once he filled out his frame and came into himself, he was going to be a nice horse,” said Scanlon.
Scanlon says Sierra Leone possesses an admirable attribute when it comes to entering the starting gate, the killer instinct, which has also set him apart.
“He wants to compete, and when he asked to make his move, he’s a real competitor,” said Scanlon. “That’s one thing when you buy horses, you can’t judge their heart or desire, and I feel like he has a lot of heart and desire.”
Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes runner-up Mystik Dan, who was broken and trained at Kenny McPeek’s Silverleaf Hills Training Center in Summerfield, once again drew post position no. 3 for the Belmont Stakes. That’s the same place in the starting gate that he broke from at Churchill Downs when winning the Kentucky Derby. The off-track at Pimlico for the Preakness, where the field had to contend with a muddy surface, is a variable that hopefully won’t be impacting this year’s Belmont Stakes.
“The way the race unfolded, we kind of anticipated that Imagination would go with the speed,” said McPeek, in a phone interview this week. “You give a fast horse an easy lead, you’re going to have a hard time catching him. We wanted to win, and the race didn’t unfold the way we wanted it to, and the winner ran huge.”
This year’s Belmont Stakes is composed of 10 entries, with a lineup that should provide some fascinating scenarios.
“It’s an interesting race because you don’t know how it’s going to set up,” said McPeek. “You have an obvious speed horse (Dornoch) and an obvious closer (Sierra Leone). I think I like my spot where I’m somewhere in the middle. I think the race is kind of hard one to predict.”
Dornoch came out of Raul Reyes’ King’s Equine program in Ocala. The multiple graded stakes winner that likes to run on the lead, will be seeking to rebound from his disappointing 10th place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
“I think he’ll have a better chance in the Belmont,” said Reyes. “I talked to Danny Gargan (Dornoch’s trainer), and he’s excited. I’m excited too.”