Belmont Speed Figures:

Here is the actual assigned Speed Figure…as with last year, the top number is “way-below-par”.

Ruler On Ice               74.5       Wet track helped

Stay Thirsty               74.3      Moved up in the Sloppy going

Brilliant Speed         73.8     About average for this horse

Nehro                              72.0    Perfect tracking trip, poor effort

Shackleford                71.8     Had it all his own way, poor effort

Animal Kingdom   71.3     Big Trouble early on– but a repeat of his KD would have won

and the rest just were terrible!

I want to add, as a handicapper, that Mucho Macho Man, once again proved that he didn’t belong, as did Master of Hounds.  Both horsese werer terribly mis-managed in my opinion and confirm my opinion that Aiden O’Brien is a very average trainer with great stock.  Note, when I rate a trainer, I am not considering how well he cares for a horse, I am only evaluating how well he places and prepares a horse to win in the USA.  So Mr. O’Brien might be fantastic in many of the important disciplines of healthcare and winning in Europe, but so far his success rated in the USA is just poor…  AS said at every opportunity, that SPEED FIGURES say there is something wrong with Mucho Macho Man, the the connections are not saavy enough to see, what good handicappers already know.  MMM had 3 opportunities to run decently, his last two efforts are examples that he is really on the decline…It is a shame…