Lightly raced Dr Post 'ran great' to be second in Belmont Stakes
Making his first start in a graded stakes, Dr Post was best of the rest Saturday in the 2020 Belmont Stakes.
There wasn’t much doubt when it came to the winner. That was Tiz the Law, who backed up his 4-5 favoritism with a commanding, 3¾-length victory in the nine-furlong Belmont.
Dr Post, off as the 8-1 third betting choice in the Grade 1, $1 million American Classic, came home next behind the winner under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
"He ran great,” Ortiz Jr. said of his mount, a Todd Pletcher trainee. “No excuse. He got beat by a good horse too. The winner is a nice horse, New York-bred and he ran great.”
Pletcher entered Dr Post in Saturday’s 152nd Belmont Stakes off only three lifetime starts. The Quality Road colt debuted last July with a fourth-place run at Belmont Park, broke his maiden March 29 at Gulfstream Park, then won his stakes bow April 25 in Gulfstream’s Unbridled.
Dr Post “got a lot of education” in the Unbridled, Pletcher said earlier this week. The 3-year-old ran most of the way in tight quarters that day before squeezing through two rivals in the stretch for the winning move.
Saturday in the Belmont, Dr Post went outside for an easier trip. He ran mid-pack early on the field of 10, coming four-wide through the turn, before going six-wide for the trip home and finishing well down the center of the track.
“My horse is improving,” Ortiz Jr. said. “… He just needs a little more time to figure things out."
St. Elias Stable campaigns Dr Post, who pocketed $185,000 for his runner-up finish Saturday. He also earned 60 points toward the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, putting him eighth among runners still on the Triple Crown trail.
Also taking home a nice chunk of Derby points Saturday was Max Player, who collected 30 with a third-place effort in the Belmont. He now has 40 points, ranking 12th on the updated Derby list.
The last time racing fans saw Max Player before Saturday, he was drawing off for a 3 ¼-length win Feb. 1 in the Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. That was before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the racing calendar, forcing the rescheduling of all three Triple Crown races.
Trainer Linda Rice worked Max Player consistently since the Withers, waiting for racing to resume in the Empire State. The son of Honor Code finally reentered the starting gates Saturday and the Belmont and put forth a solid performance.
A 14-1 longshot, Max Player saved ground early on under jockey Joel Rosario before moving out all the way out to the seven-path down the stretch. He was no match for Tiz the Law or Dr Post, but he came home third by a comfortable 2 ½ lengths over fourth-place Pneumatic.
"I was happy with where I was in the beginning and then getting into the turn he took some dirt to the face,” said Rosario, who won the 2019 Belmont aboard Sir Winston. “But he was coming, he was making a nice run on the outside and just kept coming.
“He still came with a nice run there at the end. I thought it was a good performance for him."
Pneumatic picked up 15 points toward the Kentucky Derby with his fourth-place run Saturday. The Steve Asmussen trainee, who was third May 23 at Churchill Downs in the Matt Winn Stakes (G3), ranks 20th on the Derby leaderboard with 25 points.
Rounding out the field Saturday behind the top four were, in order, Tap It to Win, Sole Volante, Modernist, Farmington Road, Fore Left and Jungle Runner.