Gormley only Grade 1 winner heading into Belmont Stakes 2017

Though eight of the dozen horses entered for Saturday's Belmont Stakes have Grade 1 experience heading into the last and longest leg of the Triple Crown, only one is a Grade 1 winner.

Jerry & Ann Moss' Gormley has actually won a pair of Grade 1 races - the 1 1/16-mile FrontRunner last fall as a 2-year-old and the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby April 8, both at Santa Anita Park, where trainer John Shirreffs is based.

It will be the third Belmont Stakes for the 71-year-old Shirreffs, a first-time nominee for induction to the racing Hall of Fame this spring, who ran seventh with 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and third with Giacomo's half-brother, Tiago, in 2007.

"I think most people look at the race as if their horse runs his race, they're going to be happy. It doesn't matter who's in the race, as long as they run their race they're going to be happy," Shirreffs said.

"For as talented a horse like Gormley, the 3-year-old year is significant because it's the Classics. They only get one chance at it," he added. "As we well know, horses step up and win Classics unexpectedly. There's that one chance for stardom, so you like to give horses that opportunity."

Gormley went out for a 1 ½-mile gallop early Friday morning under exercise rider Sammy Jimenez for the second straight day following his cross-country trip from California with two-time champion filly Songbird, the heavy favorite for Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Ogden Phipps for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

"He was very good today, no issues at all. He went around there nicely," Shirreffs said. "About the three-quarter pole he was joined by another horse and they came down the stretch together before he went on. I really liked the way he went today."

Shirreffs has felt both sides of upsets on some of racing's biggest stages including Giacomo's 50-1 shocker that produced the second-highest payout in Derby history ($102.60). He also trained Hall of Fame mare Zenyatta to 19 consecutive victories before a heartbreaking head loss to Blame in the 2010 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in her career finale.

Reflecting on both races, Shirreffs referenced the 1956 book 'Boots and Saddles,' written by Commander J.K.L. Ross about his family's history in thoroughbred racing that included owning the first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, in 1919.

"His son was 12 or something like that and his father is teaching him about racing. They bet on this one horse that was the favorite and something happened in the race and the winner should have been disqualified and the horse they bet on should have won," Shirreffs said. "Back then, they bet a lot. It was a healthy bet. The son was lamenting to his father and his father said, first of all you have to accept the decision of the stewards, the judges. That's part of racing. You accept their decisions.

"And number two - and this is the quote I love - he said, 'You have to accept the glorious inconsistencies of racing.' It's the unpredictability of racing that is so fascinating to everybody. If all the time horses ran strictly to form, where's the fascination? I thought that expresses it so well. I'm so happy I read that."

Shirreffs said he had yet to decide whether to give Gormley some light training Saturday.

"There's a possibility he'll jog," he said. "I haven't' really made up my mind yet but it's a long day and there's a lot of activity so maybe getting him out and jogging a little will just take the edge off."