Twelve of the 24 Belmont Stakes run since 2000 have been won by horses who ran in but did not win the Kentucky Derby, skipped the Preakness, and came in relatively fresh for the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown. There figures to be a handful of horses attempting to duplicate the likes of Mo Donegal (2022), Essential Quality (2021), Palace Malice (2013), Birdstone (2004), and Commendable (17th in 2000) when this year’s Belmont Stakes is run June 8 at Saratoga and at the shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles. Sierra Leone, beaten a nose by Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby, will be the Derby alumnus expected to draw the most attention. But Honor Marie could be the Derby alumnus who’ll offer the most value in the $2 million Belmont. Other Derby also-rans targeting the Belmont include Fierceness, Dornoch, and possibly Resilience. Honor Marie arguably had the worst trip of any of the 20 runners in the Derby. He got banged around leaving the starting gate and was 19th coming under the Twin Spires the first time. Going into the first turn, jockey Ben Curtis had to check Honor Marie when T O Password cut in front of him. Now, Honor Marie was last. Honor Marie raced five wide and last for most of the backstretch run before Curtis was able to angle him over around the far turn. He did show some run while utilizing the same inside path that Mystik Dan had followed. But in upper stretch, Curtis guided Honor Marie into the six path and again encountered some traffic. Ultimately, Honor Marie finished eighth, beaten a neck for seventh by Stronghold and beaten 13 1/2 lengths by Mystik Dan. “He didn’t have a clear spot from the break into the first turn, down the backside, into the far turn, and down the lane,” said Whit Beckman, who trains Honor Marie. “He had more horses stopping in front of him; he found all the trouble, all of it.” The good news is that Honor Marie was none the worse for wear. He came out of the race so well, in fact, Beckman briefly flirted with the idea of pointing to the Preakness, but Beckman felt the extra time would be better for Honor Marie. “This horse only turned 3 years old on Derby Day,” Beckman said. “This is a horse I still think has some growth to do, a little more development. He’s put on some mass, muscle, he’s continuing to do the things that we usually get a little earlier, but that’s fine for me. He’s doing so good right now.” :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Honor Marie was the subject of many rumors regarding his ability to be approved by the regulatory veterinarians to run in the Derby because of the less-than-ideal way he moved in his morning training. Beckman said that is no longer the case. “There’s a smoothness that he got out of that race – I don’t know how – that he didn’t have before,” Beckman said. “He needed to warm up, walk the shed row before he’d give you that clean jog, and now he’s just doing it right out of the stall. He looks fantastic. He’s been eating up. He’s put on some weight.” At 14-1, Honor Marie was the sixth betting choice in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby. At 2, he won 2 of 3 starts, including the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club. Before the Kentucky Derby, he finished fifth to Sierra Leone in the Risen Star, run over a sloppy track, before finishing a solid second, beaten one length by Catching Freedom, in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. With a better trip in the Belmont, Beckman thinks Honor Marie can give him a performance like he did that day. Florent Geroux will ride Honor Marie for the first time in the Belmont. “As long as we get out and get a trip where we’re unfettered and not getting stops and jacked around early, I know this horse is going to run back to what we saw in the Louisiana Derby and how he was training up to the [Kentucky] Derby,” Beckman said. Batten Down to Ohio Derby Batten Down, an 8 3/4-length maiden winner on April 30 at Churchill Downs, will skip the Belmont Stakes and point to the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 22, Garrett O’Rourke, racing manager for Juddmonte, which owns and bred the colt, confirmed Thursday. The Blood-Horse first reported the news. O’Rourke said the depth of the Belmont field and Batten Down’s modest résumé made the Ohio Derby make more sense. “We’re coming out of a maiden, there’s eight or 10 that have good graded stakes form that we’d have to step forward and beat,” O’Rourke said. “We could run a really good race and finish sixth. Why give up an easier stepping-stone like the Ohio Derby?” Batten Down, trained by Bill Mott, is a full brother to Tacitus, the 2019 Wood Memorial winner and third-place finisher in that year’s Belmont Stakes. Mott trains Wood Memorial winner and Kentucky Derby sixth-place finisher Resilience, who is on the fence for the Belmont. ◗ Frank Mirahmadi, who will call the four days of racing at Saratoga for the New York Racing Association (June 6-9), also will be the announcer for the Belmont Stakes on the Fox national broadcast, it was announced Thursday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.