One of 10 horse in the Belmont Stakes is Macho Again, a gray colt by Macho Uno, was bred in Florida.  On 4/26 he raced in the Derby Trial at Churchill Downs.  Following a disappointing performance over the Polytrack during the Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park that took him off the Kentucky Derby trail, Macho Again regained his form on the familiar dirt at Churchill.  Despite being bumped at the top of the stretch, Macho Again collected himself to surge by favorite Kodiak Kowboy in the final furlong to win by a half-length.  Macho Again has not won beyond 7 1/2 furlongs, he is bred top and bottom to appreciate two turns. Early Saturday morning odds at SportsBetting.com show Macho Again has moved to 15-1 for the Belmont Stakes

His recent race was on 5/17 in the Preakness Stakes.  He finished 2nd to Big Brown.  In the race he saved ground early, advanced between rivals nearing the half mile maker.  He steadied when in traffic mid way on the turn.  He angled out nearing the quarter pole, swung five wide entering the home stretch and continued on willingly to gain the place money.  If you disregard his races on Polytrack, Macho Again is an extremely consistent performer and an ever-improving one.  Macho Again had no attempts at a Grade 1 race until he ran in Preakness last time out.  He has big bloodlines in the family, including a Horse of the Year, Holy Bull (who was 5 for 5 over the Belmont surface.  That breeding carried him to a surprising second place finish in the Preakness (gr. I).   He won the Derby Trial race coming from behind in a middle move, he will need to make this kind of move in this race.   Let the speed battle it out in front and try to make a big closing move to win.  His best races have been when there is a strong pace and that may not be the case on Saturday.

Top Jockey in the world, Garrett Gomez has four Breeders' Cup wins which came in 2005 (Artie Schiller in the Mile and Stevie Wonderboy in the Juvenile) and 2007 (Indian Blessing in the Juvenile Fillies and Midnight Lute in the Sprint); in both years he subsequently won the Bill Shoemaker Award for top performance by a jockey in the Breeders' Cup.  Gomez has enjoyed tremendous success, including winning the 2005 spring/summer Hollywood meet title.  Garrett Gomez Won his 2,000th race at Del Mar in August 2002.  Gomez missed 21 months for personal reasons including substance abuse problems.  He entered rehab Oct. 29, 2003, a date that coincided with his two Breeders' Cup victories two years later.

Big Brown could take the Triple Crown; make sure you bookmark OnlineSportsHandicapping.com for all your premiere Triple Crown horse racing previews and news.

All posted odds are online odds provided by SportsBetting.com 

1. Big Brown   Kent Desormeaux Rick Dutrow Jr.   1-3

2. Guadalcanal TBA   Fred Seitz    40-1

3. Macho Again    Garrett Gomez    Dallas Stewart    15-1

4. Denis of Cork    Robby Albarado    David Carroll    10-1

5. Casino Drive    Edgar Prado       Kazuo Fujisawa    5-2

6. Da' Tara          Alan Garcia          Nick Zito          25-1

7. Tale of Ekati       Eibar Coa          Barclay Tagg       18-1

8. Anak Nakal       Julien Leparoux    Nick Zito          25-1

9. Ready's Echo    John Velazquez    Todd Pletcher        251

10. Icabad Crane    Jeremy Rose       Graham Motion    18-1

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