Japanese horse Epicharis scratched from Belmont Stakes

There are no champions in this race. Having Victor Espinoza, who completed the Triple Crown by winning the 2015 Belmont Stakes on American Pharoah, doesn’t hurt. However, the 1½-mile distance is a question for every entrant since most horses have never run that far and will never be asked to again.

Irish War Cry inherited the role of favorite after Classic Empire was forced out earlier in the week with an abscess in his hoof.

Now and for the foreseeable future, the accomplishment will be no less hard, but it will be much less interesting because a horse just did it in 2015. I believe he will be sharp and rested and I believe he will show these American 3-year-olds what he is made of.

Irish War Cry’s odds for winning the Belmont were 7/2 as of Friday.

His sire, Gold Allure, is a son of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness victor Sunday Silence.

Here’s what you need to know about the 2017 Belmont Stakes. “We still have time, so we will give him the best care we can”.

Think about a year ago when the two-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby, Nyqvist, sat out the Belmont and the race ended at the wire with a near photo finish.

The Belmont is also notable for who isn’t there as much as who is. “I’m probably using Tapwrit, Gormley, maybe Twisted Tom in there, Senior Investment and Multiplier“.

Arguably the most interesting story in the field is Japanese horse Epicharis, who starts from Post 11 and is at +350 on the Belmont Stakes odds.

One of the lightly raced horses with only four starts. But there are still many horses you should recognize from those two races. He was found to be lame on Wednesday and was treated with anti-inflammatory medication Wednesday and Thursday. The Kiyoshi Hagiwara-trained horse has competed predominantly in Japan, although he most recently ran at the UAE Derby in March.

In the final race before the big one, I am hoping to see Time Test win his first race on U.S. soil after moving from the United Kingdom over the winter. He’s only won the Belmont once, but that was enough to make history. “He is a major win threat to me, especially if he manages to pass some horses on the back stretch and doesn’t have to sweep by the whole field in the final five-eighths of a mile”.

Trained by Graham Motion, the Curlin chestnut, Irish War Cry was an impressive victor of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial April 8 at Aqueduct and Grade 2 Holy Bull February 4 at Gulfstream Park. If Irish War Cry can run the way he did at the Wood Memorial back in April, winning by three and a half lengths over Preakness victor Cloud Computing, he should claim the Belmont Stakes title. “He’s got a good rhythm to the way he runs and I think that’s important going that far”. That finish was actually laudable considering his trouble.

Pletcher also will saddle the one-eyed Patch, who placed 14th in Kentucky. Tapwrit is cycling back to his A-race, from a speed figure standpoint. He had an excuse in the Blue Grass Stakes because he was unprepared for the start, and then had the traffic problems in the Derby.

As a horse exercises, its trainer keep her ear to the ground for its soundness – not the creature’s whinny, but its overall health.

Prediction: 1. Tapwrit; 2.