My recollection of Smarty's Belmont, was not laying blame on Elliott, but, wondering why Pletcher sent Bailey on Eddington up front with Smarty, compromising Eddington's late run-of-foot. Kinda reminded me of Woody Stephens vowing to take out Winning Colors in the Preakness, even if it meant compromising his horse's chances.
Stardom Bound took a distant back seat to Rachel Alexandra. Also, I had heard that RA had a colt by Curlin?
General Assembly wasn't a bad son. I believe he ran 2nd in the Ky Derby, and still holds a track record at Saratoga.
@AfterHours: Thanks for the info. I guess horses that have won the Belmont, that raced in the first two legs of the TC: Afleet Alex; Point Given; Risen Star; Thunder Gulch; Easy Goer; Risen Star; Bet Twice; and Swale. Going back to '78: Maybe Victory Gallop, Editor's Note, Tabasco Cat, Hansel. I guess my point is that, as of late, fresh horses are the "now" horses. Used to be, you honored the TC by running in all three races.
He's run in seven races, won five, and has YET to be favored in any race. Looks like he likes to overcome the odds.
It would be nice to see a TC winner, but I think too many fresh horses lay in wait for those who have failed at knocking down the 3rd leg of the TC. I wonder, how many colts(or filly) have won the Belmont after having skipped one, or both, of the preceding TC races, since the last TC winner(1978)?
Floridaf: Another threesome could be Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit, and Free House. Or, a HOF threesome: Bold Ruler, Round Table, and Gallant Man.
When I saw Bodemeister's effort, he more resembled Shackleford imo. On the front end, and stays near the entire race. Or, maybe, Hard Spun.
Dullahan; Union Rags; Take Charge Indy; and a couple of bombs: El Padrino; and Prospective.
Since 1973(39 runnings), there have been 13 colts that began with the letter 'S', that won the Derby(33.3%). Since that's the case, watch out for Sabercat!!!!