Belmont 2018’s prospective field swells to eight contenders
Speaking Thursday morning during a press conference at Santa Anita Park, trainer Bob Baffert said Restoring Hope is “doing really well,” but in order to earn an entry in the 2018 Belmont Stakes, the colt will “have to prove it to me.”
Baffert added that he’d say yes today to running a second entry alongside of Triple Crown hopeful Justify in the June 9 race. And so there are now eight probable contenders.
Two from the Baffert barn are part of a prospective field including the Preakness Stakes’ runner-up, Bravazo, and third-place finisher, Tenfold. Hofburg and Vino Rosso are running back from the Kentucky Derby. Last-out stakes winners Blended Citizen and Gronkowski are expected new shooters.
“A mile and a half is sort of a quirky distance for all those horses,” Baffert said of his reasoning for running Restoring Hope. “I guess everybody — it’s equal opportunity in my stable.”
Justify is campaigned in partnership with WinStar Farm, while Gary and Mary West own Restoring Hope, who was off the board last out in a Derby undercard stakes in the slop. The son of Giant’s Causeway ran third off a brief layoff in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial before that.
"He's like a once-paced kind of horse," Baffert said.
Other horses still considered possible to run at this point are the Derby’s third-place finisher Audible, Free Drop Billy and Irish-trained Bandua.
Baffert is planning to pick a different spot for Solomini, who initially was considered a Belmont prospect coming out of the Derby. Connections to My Boy Jack also announced this week the Derby's fifth-place finisher will not go to the Belmont.
Speaking on entering multiple horses, Baffert pointed out the dilemma facing WinStar, which campaigns both Justify and Audible.
“They’re thinking about running there because it’s still a classic race,” Baffert said. “It’s great for these horses if they can win — for their resume, for their breeding.
“…The economic impact that these races have on these horses is very important also.”