Belmont Stakes picks and analysis from Daily Racing Form handicappers across the United States. Mike Beer 1. Mo Donegal 2. Creative Minister 3. We the People 4. Rich Strike MO DONEGAL finished nearly four lengths behind upset winner Rich Strike in the Derby despite having the same ferocious pace to close into in that spot. The difference might have been how they were trying to make up that ground. While the winner worked out a clean run down toward the inside – much to his and his rider’s credit – Mo Donegal was very wide on the turn and forced even wider into the stretch. He still stayed strongly to just miss fourth and he has given the impression that he will stay all day right from the start for a trainer who has had plenty of success in this race. CREATIVE MINISTER is one of only three Belmont runners with a triple-digit Beyer showing and his 100, earned in the Preakness three weeks ago, might be more predictive going forward than either Rich Strike’s 101 from the Derby, or We the People’s 103 earned in the sloppy Peter Pan. He has to stretch out again but he is a progressive colt with tactical speed and he might fall into a perfect trip on Saturday. WE THE PEOPLE looked good winning the first two starts of his career, then bombed in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby after failing to get up close to the pace. He rebounded in a big way when in charge vs. a subpar Peter Pan field, and that effort is even more difficult to get a handle on with a sloppy, sealed track factored in. Still has much to prove at what may not be a great price, but he does look loose on the lead once again. RICH STRIKE caught lightning in a bottle on the first Saturday in May and pulled off a stunner at 80-1 odds. Have to make him prove it at a much shorter price, but he has been training forwardly since that race, by all accounts. Brad Free 1. Mo Donegal 2. We the People 3. Nest 4. Rich Strike MO DONEGAL, a better-than-looked fifth in the Kentucky Derby, can join a long list of horses who finished off the board in the Derby, skipped the Preakness, and won the Belmont. It’s happened nine times since 2000. Mo Donegal was compromised by a slow start from the rail post in the Derby. He was shuffled back, positioned far back early, had to wait briefly on the far turn, lost ground wide into the stretch, and missed by less than four lengths. He actually ran very well. Although Mo Donegal frequently breaks slowly, another tardy takeoff would be less compromising in this smaller field at this longer distance of 1 1/2 miles. A two-time Grade 2 winner with improving figures, Mo Donegal is likely to be positioned closer to the pace in the Belmont than he was in the fast-tempo Derby. Mo Donegal can win the Belmont if he catches the controlling speed. WE THE PEOPLE romped in the wet-track Grade 2 Peter Pan with a lofty 103 Beyer, highest in the Belmont field. The challenge is that every Peter Pan winner since 2000 who ran back in the Belmont earned a lower figure (including 2014 Belmont winner Tonalist). Perhaps We the People will be an exception. The lightly raced and always well-regarded colt appears to be the speed of the Belmont. He might be long gone. NEST, a filly, is certainly bred for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont – sired by Curlin and produced by an A.P. Indy mare. Beyond pedigree, Nest is a Grade 1 winner whose runner-up finish in the Kentucky Oaks was better than it appears. She did not have a great trip, and lost by only two lengths. She gets a five-pound weight break in the Belmont. RICH STRIKE benefited from a pace meltdown to win the Derby at 80-1. It was the best race of his career, on the only surface (Churchill Downs) over which he has won. Perhaps it was a one-off. He will be chasing a slower pace in the Belmont, over a track on which he has never started. Graded stakes-placed BARBER ROAD has an upset chance based on the unplaced-Derby-skip-Preakness pattern. He will rally late. CREATIVE MINISTER has improved with each subsequent start, including an okay third in the Preakness. SKIPPYLONGSTOCKING, the Wood third and Preakness fifth, runs the same race every start. GOLDEN GLIDER, runner-up in the Peter Pan, is a longshot late-runner, the type that could slip into the trifecta. :: Get Belmont Stakes Day Betting Strategies for exclusive wager recommendations, contender profiles, and more. Marcus Hersh 1. Mo Donegal 2. Rich Strike 3. Skippylongstocking 4. Barber Road It’s easy to see We the People is lone speed in the Belmont Stakes. He was a strong winner of the Peter Pan going a one-turn nine furlongs over the Belmont track. The colt has a high cruising speed and route stamina, but I struggle to see him succeeding here. We the People just is a hot horse in every sense of the word. He’s going to get fired up in a crowded paddock and parading to the post in front of tens of thousands of fans. He is not an easy horse to settle; in his most recent work, he went with the pony all the way to the point of breaking off for the breeze, presumably to keep him from starting too fast. He still started fast, and that work, to me, wasn’t what one necessarily wants to see from a horse trying to stay 1 1/2 miles on the lead. At the price, I’m against him. MO DONEGAL won’t be any huge price, either, but to me he’s comfortably this race’s most likely winner. Yes, Mo Donegal got an ideal trip beating subsequent Preakness winner Early Voting in the Wood, but he also has strong nine-furlong 2-year-old form through Blue Grass winner and Derby third-place finisher Zandon, as well as a win over this track last year. He’ll absolutely stay the 12 furlongs, and in the Derby, after nearly being put into the rail shortly after the start, he wound up going very wide at the quarter pole while victorious Rich Strike dove to the rail. Mo Donegal has worked strongly for this and will stick closer to the lead than you might guess. RICH STRIKE is reminiscent of Mine That Bird, who showed his Derby shocker was no fluke with a good second to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. This colt trained well into the Derby and appears still to be flourishing. Obviously, he got a great pace setup at Churchill Downs, but he was the deep closer who actually did something with it. SKIPPYLONGSTOCKING is the “exotics under” prospect at long odds. His last Belmont work gave me an impression opposite We the People’s – smooth, steady, sustained. Skippy was solid in the Wood and lost precious ground around the first turn of the Preakness. He can do better than that last race and could get first run on the likely leader. BARBER ROAD runs hard every time and has been unlucky throughout his campaign. Expect him much closer to the pace than he was in the Derby, but Mo Donegal was going away from him at the wire in tha race. :: Belmont Stakes Day Headquarters: Get the latest news, info on contenders, past performances, picks, and more  Dan Illman 1. Rich Strike 2. We the People 3. Creative Minister 4. Barber Road To many, RICH STRIKE’s Kentucky Derby win was a one-off fluke aided by a perfect trip and pace scenario. While he did get the ideal setup from behind blazing fractions and received a flawless ride from Sonny Leon, he also showed the agility to hit every hole and really fired in the stretch to run down two extremely good 3-year-olds. The connections made the bold decision to skip the Triple Crown quest and Rich Strike responded with some quick workouts at his Churchill Downs base. The pace scenario might be completely different this time around so we’ll learn a good deal more about his overall quality. The feeling here is he’s gotten good at the right time. WE THE PEOPLE looms the controlling speed and showed an affinity for this surface with a gate-to-wire romp in the Peter Pan. He earned a very fast Beyer Speed Figure in that race and could be extremely tough to catch if he posts slow fractions. Lightly raced with plenty of upside potential, We the People must last this demanding distance. CREATIVE MINISTER continues to move forward on the Beyer scale and he tried hard finishing third in the Preakness. Either of the top-two finishers from that race would be favored here, and Creative Minister kept punching on, attempting to rally over that speed-friendly track. Believe he has the tactical speed to stay close to a moderate pace. BARBER ROAD is underrated despite his consistency. He ran just fine in the Derby although he, like the top pick, was aided by the hot pace. He used to show speed in his races so it will be interesting to see if the connections make a concerted effort to stay closer than in his recent starts. MO DONEGAL appears to be a horse that will relish this distance, and he ran down subsequent Preakness winner Early Voting after a perfect ride in the Wood Memorial. He should be rallying stoutly in the stretch. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Join DRF Bets and get a $250 deposit match bonus, $10 free bet, and access to FREE DRF Formulator! Mike Welsch 1. We the People 2. Rich Strike 3. Mo Donegal 4. Barber Road Hate stringing along with the likely to be overbet “buzz” horse coming into any race, as WE THE PEOPLE figures to be in final leg of the Triple Crown, but the Peter Pan winner just checks too many of the relevant boxes to side against in this year’s Belmont Stakes. Most notably the box marked “pace,” as it’s hard to envision any scenario other than a disastrous break that doesn’t put this guy on a very easy lead and enhance his ability to stay the 1 1/2 miles if able to get away with soft early fractions. We the People has certainly given every indication coming out of his one-sided and well-graded victory in the Peter Pan that he should be sitting on another big effort on Saturday. Was convinced RICH STRIKE would never be able to repeat the sensational and certainly unexpected performance that led to his unlikely triumph in the Kentucky Derby and that he would be worth taking a stand against in his next start. But those notions have been more than tempered considering the manner in which he’s trained ever since shocking the world on the first Saturday in May. His work prior to leaving Churchill Downs was even more impressive and professional than his final breeze a week before the Derby and he has shown no signs of letting up on that energy level since arriving in New York to complete his preparations. The lone caveat being, of course, his stretch running style is not likely to fit the profile or be flattered in this race as it was by the torrid pace scenario in the Derby. MO DONEGAL had his best chances compromised the moment he drew the rail six days before the Derby, and his connections’ worst fears pretty much came to fruition as the Wood Memorial winner suffered through a rough trip en route to a perhaps better than it looks on paper fifth-place finish. Could be primed for his best yet after pairing up career-best Beyers in his last two starts, although he, too, logically figures to be pace-compromised in this spot. BARBER ROAD is winless in his last six starts but the Beyers keep heading in the right direction, and like Mo Donegal, he also suffered through a pretty tough run after being shuffled back to last during the early going in the Derby. Can envision him coming on to pick up at least some minor pieces here.