The Belmont

Let's talk horse racing for one minute.

Hard to believe a horse on the outside might be a 2-5 favorite at the Belmont. Tell me that doesn't make a difference. At the Derby he stalked from 13 and he did the same at Arkansas. The huge runaway victories came from prime post positions.

Smarty Jones has an impressive recent record (pdf), to say the least: he has won his last eight races. Them speed ratings are pretty good too. Pretty impressive stuff.

I'd consider Purge, Eddington, and Rock Hard Ten, in that order, after Smarty Jones. No sense betting on a 2-5 favorite, but there's no doubt he's one hell of a horse on one hell of a run. Lay my money on a trifecta box with Smarty Jones and whichever two of Purge, Eddington, and Rock Hard Ten have the longest odds. It would take a miracle for one of those other horses to factor against this competition.