Leon has a lot to prove on Belmont's tricky Big Sandy track

Elmont, N.Y.

Jockey Sonny Leon, whose masterful ride led to Rich Strike’s 80-1 Kentucky Derby shocker, faces a challenge as massive as Belmont Park itself in the Belmont Stakes. He must prove the Derby was no fluke while competing at an uncommon distance at an unfamiliar track his rivals know well.

The 1 1/2-mile Test of a Champion is viewed as a riders’ race for good reason. It's as treacherous as they come.

“It’s like a big ocean out there. It’s easy to get lost,” jockey Gary Stevens once said.

NBC analyst Jerry Bailey, like Stevens a retired Hall of Famer, emphasized that the margin of error is virtually nonexistent at the marathon distance.

“There are two things a jockey at Belmont has to get right. He has to get the pace right, and he has to know where he is on the track at all times,” Bailey said. “Those are two things you cannot mess up.”

Agent Jeff Perrin is doing everything he can to help prepare his client for “Big Sandy.” Leon, 32, is scheduled to breeze horses for trainer George Weaver on Friday morning at Belmont. Perrin used a strong working relationship with trainer Oscar Barrera III to line up the jockey’s only two pre-Belmont Stakes mounts.

Leon is scheduled to ride the filly Love Unlimited in a maiden claimer in the second race on Friday. Barrera is set to give him a leg up on Vincent in a six-furlong dirt contest for New York-breds in the opener of a stakes-laden card on Saturday.

“They call the track ‘Big Sandy,’ so it is a different type of surface than most traditional racetracks,” Perrin noted. “Getting a race or two before the Belmont can only be a benefit.”

Leon’s only experience at a New York Racing Association track last year occurred when he rode Forewarned to a sixth-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York in September.

Leon did not have any mounts on Kentucky Derby Day before he and former $30,000 claimer Rich Strike produced one of the most startling upsets in racing history. He said he is “not at all” concerned about the pressure cooker he will face in his Belmont Stakes debut.

“Sonny is a confident young man, far from cocky, just confident in his own ability,” Perrin said.

Leon has been studying replays of previous Belmont Stakes as part of his homework. He said he paid particular attention to John Velazquez’s success with the filly Rags to Riches in 2007, Irad Ortiz Jr.’s handling of Creator in 2016 and Joel Rosario’s upset with Sir Winston in 2019. He noted that identifying the best part of the track and when to make his move will be among the keys to success.

Rich Strike had won only once and was in the throes of a five-race losing streak before he made the Derby field off the also-eligible list the day before the race. Leon, who had ridden the Keen Ice colt in four of those defeats, said sluggish starts were part of the problem. He said trainer Eric Reed has been working with the horse on breaking more alertly.

“I think he’s going to be sharper for this race coming out of the gate,” Leon said. “We’ll see whether we stay close or a bit off the pace, depending on how he comes out.”

Much is at stake for Rich Strike and Leon in the Belmont. A strong performance would validate the Derby win. Another adept ride on a literally big stage could do wonders for Leon’s career.

“I think that is his intention, to prove to everybody out there that that was not a fluke,” Perrin said.