SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y - While heavy rain fell outside his barn Sunday morning, Dornoch was inside his stall attacking his hay net early with an energy belying the fact he just ran a hard race to win Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes. “He’s all pumped this morning,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “That’s just the way he is. He was pissed after the Derby.” Dornoch’s half-length victory over Mindframe in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes - the first ever held at Saratoga - enabled Dornoch to re-establish himself as a top 3-year-old following a 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes. Gargan felt Dornoch was compromised in both races; the Blue Grass by trying to be rated and the Kentucky Derby by breaking slow from the rail and losing position. In the Belmont, jockey Luis Saez got Dornoch into the race and, after pressing Preakness winner Seize the Grey through six furlongs in 1:10.87, he was able to put that horse away and fend off an erratic-running Mindframe in the stretch. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  “He’s got a huge stride and a cruising speed that’s crazy,” Gargan said. “They didn’t walk around there yesterday.” Dornoch, who won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream in March, has been in Saratoga since shortly after the Kentucky Derby. He will remain in Saratoga for the summer; the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 24 will be his main goal as well as that of many of those he conquered Saturday. Where or if Dornoch runs before the Travers remains undecided, though Gargan did say the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 20 “is in play. “We’ll see how he’s doing, see how he’s eating,” Gargan said. Earlier in the year, Dornoch suffered from foot issues, primarily quarter cracks. Those appear to be under control. Gargan’s biggest concern after the Derby was skin disease that the horse contracted while in Louisville. “I might put him in a hyperbaric chamber for that skin disease,” Gargan said. “If I can get his haircoat to come back around, that’s all I’m lacking. At Churchill, he stressed a little bit. I’d also like to get some weight on him.” Belmont runner-up Mindframe came out of his stakes debut in good order, trainer Todd Pletcher said. He drifted out significantly at the eighth pole when jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. hit him left-handed. Ortiz was able to straighten out Mindframe and he re-rallied late, but fell short. “We were confident in his talent level, concerned about his lack of seasoning and experience,” said Pletcher, who finished second in the Belmont for the ninth time to go along with four wins. “Turned out to be correct on both. But it was a big effort, proud of his effort and we’ll keep moving forward.” Pletcher is also the trainer of Fierceness, last year’s 2-year-old champion who this year won the Grade 1 Florida Derby and who finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, but skipped the Preakness and Belmont. Pletcher is pointing Fierceness to the Haskell and said he wouldn’t run the two horses against each other. That could mean Mindframe shows up in the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes here on July 27. Pletcher said he could also flip-flop the two if need be. Pletcher said the Jim Dandy could also be in play for Antiquarian, the Grade 3 Peter Pan winner who finished fifth in the Belmont. Sierra Leone, third in the Belmont after running second in the Kentucky Derby, is also likely being pointed to the Travers. Sierra Leone did not break well in the Belmont, was last at the midway point of the far turn, and took a bump from Protective inside the quarter pole. His trainer, Chad Brown, also felt that Sierra Leone was compromised by a track that favored forwardly placed runners. “Obviously, I’m disappointed in the result yesterday, not surprised by it,” Brown said. “Not to make excuses, but the way the racing was going all day and all week, this track had a serious speed bias to it. He really wasn’t handling that track much until about the quarter pole and then started running and he didn’t get beat that far and galloped out by everybody.” Brown attempted to correct a lugging-in issue that Sierra Leone has displayed by putting a new bit on him, and he also changed riders from Tyler Gaffalione to Flavien Prat. It was Protective, ridden by Gaffalione, who bumped Sierra Leone in upper stretch. “He took a hard bump at the quarter pole - ironically from Gaffalione which was a bit of a head-scratcher - and then he came in a little bit,” Brown said. “It wasn’t terrible. I think Mindframe coming out might have exaggerated how far it looked like we were coming in.” Brown said he would wait to see how Sierra Leone trained before deciding whether or not to run before the Travers. As was the case in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished eighth, Honor Marie was again last early on in the Belmont. He made a sustained run in the stretch and finished fourth, beat 5 1/2 lengths. He was scheduled to ship back to Kentucky on Monday, but will be part of a small string trainer Whit Beckman plans to keep at Saratoga this summer. Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Mystik Dan finished seventh in the Belmont, but an endoscopic examination taken after the race showed he had mucous in his lungs, trainer Ken McPeek said. “Not major, but enough to probably keep him from finishing well,” McPeek said. “We asked a lot out of him, he ran well, but this was definitely a step backwards.” Mystik Dan was the first horse to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown since War of Will in 2019. McPeek said Mystik Dan would remain in Saratoga and likely have three or four easy weeks and will be pointed to the Travers. McPeek added that he plans to keep Kentucky Oaks and Acorn winner Thorpedo Anna with fillies and point her to the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 20 and the Alabama on Aug. 17 - the pair of Grade 1 stakes at the Saratoga meet for 3-year-old fillies. Preakness winner Seize the Grey, who backed up to eighth after fighting to the three-sixteenths pole, came out of the race with a couple of cuts on a hind leg, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Sunday. “Nothing serious, they’re just there,” Lukas said. “Other than that, he came out of it fine. Disappointed a little bit in the way he finished. He trained so strong, I thought he would run a little better.” Seize the Grey was on his way back to Kentucky by van Sunday afternoon but is expected to ship back to Saratoga by the end of June. Lukas said he would consider the Haskell or Jim Dandy for Seize the Grey’s next start with the Travers as the main summer goal. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.