Racing Dudes Three Stars of the Week: Stars Shine at Belmont

It was all about Belmont Park last weekend, with five great stakes races headlining their massive Saturday of racing. In the end, it was tough narrowing this list down to just three horses, but we did our best. Instead of continuing to go down the negative road that is the Bob Baffert story, let’s focus on something positive. Here’s our latest three starts of the week:

1. Channel Cat

When you let this horse get in front, he’s awfully tough to pass, which he put on full display with his Man o’ War Stakes (G1) victory. Even though the horse went fast early, he still had enough left in the tank down the lane to hold off the hard charging Gufo, winning the race by a nose. At the wire, it seemed as though Channel Cat was stretching his nose out, seemingly showing he did indeed “know” where the wire was located. We’ll likely be seeing him many more times this summer in all the big New York turf stakes events.

2. Promise Keeper

This Todd Pletcher trainee just continues to improve with each start, while picking up his first stakes victory on Saturday in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3). After stalking the early pace, Promise Keeper took charge at the top of the stretch, but a major bid for the lead was also coming from Nova Rags. The two were head in head at mid-stretch; however, Promise Keeper found another gear late, and put that rival away for an easy victory. The Belmont Stakes (G1) could be next for this horse after this impressive victory.

3. Firenze Fire

This guy just loves Belmont Park. The 6-year-old Firenze Fire made his seasonal debut in Saturday’s Runhappy Stakes (G3), making short work of the field, coming home to a 3 1/4-length triumph over the pace setting Chateau. The horse has proven to be tough to beat at this level, but can he move up and defeat bigger and better competition this season? That’s an answer for another day, but for now, it’s just nice to see him back in the winners circle and running well.