2012 Belmont Stakes Contenders: My Adonis

Horse: My Adonis
Trainer: Kelly Breen
Pedigree: By Pleasantly Perfect out of an Elusive Quality mare (Silent Justice)
Career Record: 10-2-4-2
Career Earnigns: $316,000
Notable Races: G1-Wood Memorial (7^th); G3-Gotham (2^nd); G3-Holy Bull (3^rd); G3-Delta Downs Jackpot (9^th)

Can He Win The Belmont Stakes?

There are some real concerns for My Adonis as he rolls into the Belmont Stakes starting gate on Saturday afternoon. First, the bottom half of his pedigree is very light on stamina. His dam sire, Elusive Quality, tends to produce sprinters and milers. Second, the races that he’s coming out of - namely the Wood, Gotham and Holy Bull - have turned out to be fairly weak this Triple Crown season. And finally, My Adonis failed to beat a much weaker field in his last race, the ungraded Canonero II Stakes at Pimlico on May 5^th, in a race where he went to post as the 3/10 favorite.

Like most longshots in the Belmont, My Adonis will need to run the race of his life to win on Saturday, or he’ll need the rest of the field to flop. Neither one of those options seems incredibly likely to occur.

One factor in the favor of My Adonis on the Belmont is his running style and post position. Typically, My Adonis shows a good deal of speed from the gate but he doesn’t need the lead in order to win. From his outside post position, jockey Ramon Dominguez (a seasoned rider at Belmont Park) should be able to put My Adonis in a tactically advantageous position within the first quarter mile. From there the question will be “does the horse have the class and stamina to beat this field?”