SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Dornoch looks to restore somewhat of a tarnished image when he starts as a probable longshot in a field of 10 in Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. Coming off a solid 2-year-old campaign, one in which he defeated Sierra Leone in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, Dornoch’s 3-year-old campaign has been relatively underwhelming. Yes, Dornoch won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in March at Gulfstream Park, but that race was severely impacted by the scratches of seemingly top contenders Locked, Victory Avenue and right before the start of the race, of Speakeasy. Dornoch went gate to wire, beating four rivals. Sent off the second choice behind Sierra Leone in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in April, Dornoch was not a forward factor in the race and finished fourth, 6 1/2 lengths behind Sierra Leone. In the Kentucky Derby, Dornoch, breaking from the rail, didn’t break sharp, had Mystik Dan cross over in front of him to get his inside position, and Dornoch raced in midpack throughout, finishing 10th, 18 lengths behind Mystik Dan. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more “The Blue Grass, we were trying to teach him something,” said Danny Gargan, trainer of Dornoch. “We wanted to get a good race into him and get an education.” In the Blue Grass Gargan was trying to teach Dornoch to rate, but the way he was tossing his head about in the early stages of the race, he wanted no part of that. In the Kentucky Derby, Dornoch drew the rail in the 20-horse field. And though the starting gate has changed over the last few years, the rail is still not the place to be in the Kentucky Derby. Gargan wanted Luis Saez to send Dornoch away from the gate, but he couldn’t get to the front. “The Derby, the one hole is just impossible to overcome,” Gargan said. “We thought we could come out of there. Brian Hernandez [on Mystik Dan] rode tremendous, he broke a little sharper than us. If you watch the first 100 yards in the race we started checking and we checked pretty much the whole race. He was wanting to run.” Dornoch, a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, came out of the Derby in good shape. Gargan immediately sent him to Saratoga, where Dornoch made his career debut last summer, finishing second to Seize the Grey in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race run over a sloppy track. Seize the Grey, who won the Preakness on May 18, is part of the Belmont field. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more Since being in Saratoga, Dornoch has worked twice, both times in similar fashion, with the New York-bred stakes winner Ramblin’ Wreck. Dornoch has battled quarter cracks through much of his career, but Gargan said Dornoch’s feet “are better than they’ve been all year.” Maybe Dornoch is one of those horses who has not advanced from 2 to 3. Naturally, Gargan doesn’t believe that and he would just like his horse to have an outside trip to get a chance to run his race under Saez. “I don’t care if I’m on the lead, I just want to be on the outside running comfortable,” Gargan said. “I don’t want to get down inside checking the whole way. If he’s sitting second or he’s sitting third, fine, I just don’t want him checking and hammered down inside the whole way.” The Belmont has often been won by horses who have finished 10th or worse in the Kentucky Derby and then skipped the Preakness. Commendable (17th in 2000), Palace Malice (12th in 2013), and Creator (13th in 2016) are the most recent examples. “They can knock him all they want, if he jumps up and wins, it’ll be over,” Gargan said. “If he runs 1-2-3 all the aggravation will be over.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.