Belmont Stakes Tips: Shackleford is a Toss

Written by Jake Thompson
Friday, 10 June 2011 22:58

I think it’s safe to toss Shackleford from your Belmont Stakes picks and exotics.

Although Shackleford is fresh off an impressive win in the Preakness Stakes, there are numerous reasons to toss this horse from consideration in the Belmont Stakes.  The 9/2 betting choice is currently listed as the 3rd most likely horse to win the Belmont Stakes, and I’m not including him in any trifectas because the deck is simply stacked against him.

First off, Shackleford is likely to set the pace in the Belmont Stakes.  Some will say that since there aren’t any other early speed horses in the 2011 field that Shackleford is perfectly suited to keep a slow pace and have plenty left in the gas tank at the end to hold off the late running closers.  That is all fine and dandy, but he’s starting from the far outside #12 spot and will have to waste energy getting over to the rail to be able to run his race.

Wasting energy in the Belmont Stakes is a death blow because of the long 1 ½ mile distance.  Early speed horses are likely to tire over this distance anyway, but add in the fact that he has a horrible post position and, in my opinion, you are looking at a horse that is sure to fade on the backstretch.  I just don’t see him holding off horses that can run for days like Animal Kingdom, Nehro, Monzon, Mucho Macho Man, and Master of Hounds.  Lost in the hoopla surrounding his win in the Preakness is that Shackleford has failed to be included in the trifecta in 2 of his last 4 overall races.

On top of all that, horses that have ran in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes as Shackleford has simply don’t fare well in the Belmont Stakes historically.  All of those races give horses some tired legs and this horse already had numerous warning flags to deal with before that trend is taken into account.  All things put together mean that Shackleford will not be amongst my bets at all, and I advise anyone reading this to follow suit.

Make sure to check out the website tomorrow for the release of my full Belmont Stakes horse racing picks.  We’ll have a winner and a superfecta box to wager on, and I’m much more confident in this race than in either of the first 2 legs of the 2011 Triple Crown.  Good luck to everyone and enjoy the last monster horse race before the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in the year.