Race Conditions: Grade 1, 3YOs, 12F, Dirt, Belmont Park
Race Class Par: 110
Race Class Rating: 105
Winner's Time/Quality Rating: 102.5
Pace: Average Early, Average Middle, Average Late
Track Bias: Track sloppy and sealed, honest
Race Comments: The 2011 Belmont Stakes contained both the winner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness plus several horses that have been competitive at this level. The track was sealed and sloppy. The combination of the track condition and the always complicating factor of the long distance produced another Belmont upset. I would tend to be forgiving of all sub par performances and mildly skeptical of all high level performance in this race until form is verified in subsequent starts.
Notable Performances:
1. Ruler On Ice - stalked Shackleford's slow/average pace, took over when that one weakened, and held the others safe.
2. Animal Kindom - was bumped and stumbled badly at the start causing the rider to lose his irons, fell far back, made a huge wide run, but hung and weakened late
3. Brilliant Speed - Raced 4 wide on both turns, made a big threatening move into the stretch, could not get by Ruler on Ice and finished evenly late. A very solid race.
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