B4 Saturday, June 8, 2024 The News Advance SPORTS HORSE RACING BELMONT PREVIEW TODD DEWEY Las Vegas ichael Kipness, aka has been a profes- sional horse racing handi- capper since 1986. Here is his analysis on the 10-horse field for 156th Belmont Stakes, including whether each horse is a contender or a pretender to win the final leg of the Triple Crown. Visit wizardraceandsports.com for his full card selections and wa- gering strategies for all four days (Thursday through Sunday) of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. Note: The race will be shortened from the traditional 1 miles at Belmont Park to 1 miles at Saratoga. Post position, horse, jockey, morning-line odds: 1.
Seize the Grey, Torres, His 2,570 owners had a May to re- member, scoring back-to-back wins in the Pat Day Mile and the Preakness. He will be on or near the lead from the start, but the distance, quick fractions and in- creased pressure will take their toll on him late. Pretender. 2. Resilience, Alvarado, 10-1: He fields and shorter distances.
He ran a respectable sixth in the Ken- tucky Derby breaking from post 18. He made a strong wide-mid- dle move to challenge for the lead approaching the stretch but 5. Antiquarian, Velazquez, faded slowly. His best chance to 5. He has shown steady improve- win a race like this would be go- ment in all four starts as a 3-year- ing shorter, but improving.
I old, capped off by a determined be surprised if he landed win in a weak renewal of the Pe- a piece of the purse with a perfect ter Pan Stakes. He will be for- ride and trip. Contender. 3. Mystik Dan, Hernandez, but his lack of seasoning and been the star of the Triple the added distance will likely Crown so far with wins in the take its toll on him late.
I Derby and a big second in the envision him winning, but he can Preakness, getting perfect rides land a piece of the purse at a price. and trips from jockey Brian Her- Pretender. nandez. Trainer Ken McPeek 6. Dornoch, Saez, would not run him in the Belmont fate was sealed when if he tactical, he drew post 1 in the Derby.
He handles the distance and has quickly shuffled back to 13th in the proven to be genuine. Contender. early going and never got involved 4. The Wine Steward, Franco, from there. This smaller field and 7.
Protective, Gaffalione, He has three wins and three sec- a better start will likely put him This colt has yet to win a race in bred colt tends to lug in late, which onds in six starts, but all his races have come against weaker will be forwardly placed from the start, but figures to falter in the stretch. Pretender. wardly placed from the start, This on the lead. overmatched race in five starts, scoring three and wants no part of 1 miles. times.
been his own worst en- Pretender. four starts, even though put together back-to-back third-place finishes in a pair of weak-graded stakes this spring. He has too much to overcome. Pretender. 8.
Honor Marie, Geroux, He experienced a ton of trouble soon after the start of the Derby and ran respectable to finish eighth. He had shown steady improve- ment and a strong late kick in his prior starts. He needs a lot to go his way to win the Bel- mont, but of the long shots in this field, it be a shock if he made his presence felt at the finish. Contender. 9.
Sierra Leone, Prat, The de- serving favorite has never run a bad emy with his two defeats coming by a nose, including last time out in the Derby. This late-running, well- has cost him dearly. Trainer Chad Brown has switched the type of bit Sierra Leone will be running with to help his rider have more control of him during the running, espe- cially late in the race. It appears to have helped. Brown has switched riders to Flavien Prat, who fits Si- erra running style well.
He will be tough to deny if he brings his game to the Belmont. Con- tender. 10. Mindframe, I. Ortiz, by far the least experienced 3-year-old in the field, but both his starts have been blowout wins.
He rated kindly in his debut and went wire-to-wire last time out. This will be his first stakes try- ing to stretch way out in distance against much tougher competi- tion. He will be in a perfect strik- ing position from the start, with every chance to make his presence felt late. Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Belmont four times. Con- tender.
Separating contenders, pretenders Mystik Dan comes into the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby and taking second at the Preakness. AP FILE Sierra Leone Resilience AROUND THE LEAGUE Harper: U.S. Cricket upset LONDON Bryce Harper can recognize great hitting, even if in cricket. The Philadelphia Phillies slugger was impressed by the United States pulling off a huge upset over Pakistan at the Twenty20 World Cup in Texas. U.S.
captain Monank Pa- tel scored 50 runs and Aaron Jones hit the ball out of the park a in cricket be- cause good for six runs late in the match to help the Americans catch 2022 run- ner-up Pakistan on Thurs- day and force a before winning in the extra frame. was Harper said Friday at London Sta- dium. Soto has elbow inflammation NEW YORK Yankees injection. slugger Juan Soto has el- bow inflammation and was Blue Manoah not in the starting lineup out for season for the first time this season when New York opened a ronto Blue Jays starter Alek high-profile series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he expect Soto will go on the injured list.
Soto had imaging of his forearm and elbow that did not show any ligament damage. He will take medi- cation and did not require an OAKLAND, Calif. To- Manoah will undergo re- constructive right elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season. The decision came af- ter Manoah was examined by Dr. Keith Meister, who will perform the operation on June 17.
Manager John Schneider said it was un- clear what exactly would be done, whether a full Tommy John ligament replacement or a procedure to place an internal brace into the el- bow joint. Associated Press GAMES (All times Eastern) American League Toronto (Gausman 4-4) at Oakland (Medina 0-0), 4:07 p.m. Baltimore (Bradish 1-0) at Tampa Bay (Bradley 1-3), 4:10 p.m. Boston (Bello 6-2) at Chicago White Sox (Nastrini 0-5), 4:10 p.m. Seattle (Castillo 5-6) at Kansas City (Marsh 4-3), 4:10 p.m.
Houston (Brown 1-5) at L.A. Angels (Anderson 5-5), 10:07 p.m. National League Philadelphia 9-1) at N.Y. Mets (Manaea 3-2), 1:10 p.m. Atlanta (Morton 3-2) at Washington (Gore 4-5), 4:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Brown 1-2) at Cincinnati (Abbott 4-5), 4:10 p.m. Colorado (Feltner 1-5) at St. Louis (Gibson 4-2), 4:15 p.m. Arizona (Nelson 3-4) at San Diego (Waldron 3-5), 8:40 p.m. Interleague Minnesota (Woods Richardson 2-0) at Pittsburgh (TBD), 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco (TBD) at Texas (Heaney 2-6), 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Peralta 4-3) at Detroit (Mize 1-3), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Lively 5-2) at Miami 1-1), 7:35 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Stone 6-2) at N.Y.
Yankees (Cortes 3-4), 7:35 p.m. STAT OF THE DAY AMERICAN LEAGUE East Pct GB New York 45 20 .692 Baltimore 40 22 .645 Boston 32 32 .500 Tampa Bay 31 32 .492 13 Toronto 30 32 .484 Central Pct GB Cleveland 40 22 .645 Kansas City 37 26 .587 Minnesota 33 30 .524 Detroit 31 32 .492 Chicago 16 48 .250 25 West Pct GB Seattle 36 28 .563 Texas 30 33 .476 Houston 28 35 .444 Oakland 25 39 .391 11 Los Angeles 24 38 .387 11 NATIONAL LEAGUE East Pct GB Philadelphia 44 19 .698 Atlanta 35 26 .574 8 Washington 28 35 .444 16 New York 27 35 .435 Miami 22 41 .349 22 Central Pct GB Milwaukee 37 26 .587 Chicago 31 33 .484 Cincinnati 31 33 .484 Pittsburgh 30 33 .476 7 St. Louis 29 32 .475 7 West Pct GB Los Angeles 40 25 .615 San Diego 32 34 .485 San Francisco 31 33 .484 Arizona 30 33 .476 9 Colorado 22 40 .355 RESULTS American League Toronto 6, Baltimore 5 Kansas City 4, Cleveland 3 Seattle 3, Oakland 0 N.Y. Yankees 8, Minnesota 5 Boston 14, Chicago White Sox 2 National League Atlanta 5, Washington 2 L.A. Dodgers 11, Pittsburgh 7 Cincinnati 8, Chicago Cubs 4 Colorado 3, St.
Louis 2 Arizona 4, San Diego 3 RESULTS American League Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 3 Chicago White Sox 7, Boston 2 Seattle at Kansas City, (n) Houston at L.A. Angels, (n) Toronto at Oakland, (n) National League Washington 2, Atlanta 1 Cincinnati 3, Chicago Cubs 2 Colorado at St. Louis, (n) Arizona at San Diego, (n) Interleague Milwaukee 10, Detroit 0 Pittsburgh 3, Minnesota 0 Miami 3, Cleveland 2 L.A. Dodgers 2, N.Y. Yankees 1, 11 inn.
San Francisco 5, Texas 2 ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Teoscar broke up a score- less game with a two-run double in the 11th inning, and the Los Angeles Dodg- ers beat the Yankees 2-1 Fri- day night to stop New season-best eight-game winning streak. In a matchup viewed as a possible World Series pre- view, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven scoreless in- nings of three-hit ball in his Yankee Stadium debut. An- thony Banda, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, Michael Grove and Yohan finished a five-hitter for the Dodgers. pitching for his third big league team this season, got his first save in two years after allowing a one-out RBI single to Aaron Judge. threw a called third strike past Giancarlo Stanton and retired Anthony Rizzo on a foul pop, dropping New York to 1-4 in extra in- nings this year.
ORIOLES 6, RAYS 3: Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander and Jordan West- burg homered as Baltimore beat host Tampa Bay. Baltimore leads the ma- jors with 98 home runs. The in eight games since taking Orioles had lost the final two three of four at Atlanta late while striking out eight and games of a four-game set at last month. Toronto, but still won for the 11th time in 15 games. Cole Irvin allowed three bias Myers allowed one hit gest active streak in the major runs and eight hits in in eight innings, and Blake leagues.
innings. Craig Kimbrel, the Perkins hit his first of two RBI third Baltimore reliever, triples in a five-run second, worked the ninth to get his lifting Milwaukee to a road 14th save in 17 chances. NATIONALS 2, BRAVES 1: out offensive performance Josh Bell hit back-to-back Jake Irvin pitched six shutout after scoring a total of two homers in the third, and host innings, and host Washing- runs while getting swept in Miami beat Cleveland. ton dealt Atlanta ace Chris a three-game series at Phil- Sale his first loss in nearly adelphia. two months.
Washington snapped a REDS 3, CUBS 2: Nick Lodolo grounder to cen- four-game losing streak and allowed one run through six ter field to end the won for only the second time innings, Tyler Stephenson hit four-game losing streak. BREWERS 10, TIGERS 0: To- shutout over Detroit. Milwaukee had a break- single, Bryan De La Cruz and a two-run double, and surg- ing Cincinnati beat visiting Chicago for its sixth straight victory. The Reds have won 11 of 14 to pull even with the Cubs in second place in the NL Cen- tral standings, both at 31-33. Chicago, meanwhile, has lost 11 of 15.
PIRATES 3, TWINS 0: Mitch Keller pitched six score- less innings to win his sixth FRANK FRANKLIN II, ASSOCIATED straight start, Oneil Cruz homered for a second con- secutive game, and host Pittsburgh defeated Minne- sota. Keller scattered seven hits walking two. He also pitched at least five innings for the 44th straight time, the lon- MARLINS 3, GUARDIANS 2: Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI Jake Burger hit a two-out double off Cleveland reliever Cade Smith and scored on double powers Dodgers MLB The Teoscar hits a two-run double during the 11th inning of game against the Yankees in New York. The Dodgers won 2-1.
20 On this day in 2013, in the longest major league game in more than three years, Adeiny Hechavarria hit an RBI single in the 20th inning, and the Miami Marlins outlasted the New York Mets 2-1. Associated Press.
