July 20. Aug. 24. Sept. 21. Nov. 2. Those are the respective dates of the Haskell, Travers, Pennsylvania Derby, and Breeders’ Cup Classic. And those are the dates and races that will, in all probability, determine the champion 3-year-old male of 2019 after Sir Winston’s upset of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park brought down the curtain on an odd and somewhat unsatisfying (if you’re not trainer Mark Casse) Triple Crown season. But at this moment, the 3-year-old male division is anyone’s for the taking. Not even Casse – who won two-thirds of the Triple Crown with Sir Winston in the Belmont and War of Will in the Preakness – has a leg up on anyone. Rebel and Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach could have put this division right, but he was scratched from a Kentucky Derby he would have been favored in just days before the race and must make his way back from throat surgery. Maximum Security was the best horse in the Derby as the race was run, but he was rightfully disqualified and abdicated control of the division when his connections declined to participate in the last two legs of the Triple Crown. Country House was in the right place at the right time and was placed first in the Derby, but then he got sick, and he still has to prove he’s not more lucky than good. War of Will was brutalized in the Derby, came back with a perfect trip, rail-bias-aided victory in the Preakness, and could have taken command of this division in the Belmont. But he was the only horse this year to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown, and he was clearly out of gas Saturday. And a wide trip on a Belmont main track where the inside was the place to be all racing week didn’t help him either. Enter Sir Winston, and his Belmont victory at 10-1, and Joevia’s third-place finish as the longest shot on the board at 21-1, both of which were strong evidence of the biased nature of the racing surface. Sir Winston raced on or near the rail for the first 10 of the Belmont’s 12 furlongs before moving out to continue his rally. Joevia, easily the slowest member of the field in terms of Beyer Speed Figures and a massive question mark at the distance, being by Shanghai Bobby, set the pace on the rail and held on for third, beaten less than two lengths for all the money. Right here, let me stress that Sir Winston isn’t a bad Belmont Stakes winner in any way. There have been plenty worse in recent years, and we all know who they are. He wasn’t impossible on paper. Sir Winston was coming off a gaining second in last month’s Peter Pan Stakes that, while greatly helped by a fast pace, was by far the best performance of his career in what also was his first start over the Belmont surface. That said, Sir Winston was very fortunate the Belmont runner-up Tacitus had the trip he had, because if he didn’t, we would be talking about Tacitus, the Belmont winner, instead. Even if you don’t believe the inside was by far the best part of the Belmont main track on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – Tacitus was about five wide throughout in the Belmont. Even at Belmont Park, where the wide, sweeping turns mitigate ground loss to a certain extent, being five wide throughout in a 1 1/2-mile event is still extremely costly, particularly when you only lose by a length to an opponent who saved every inch of ground possible around both turns. Tacitus, who won the Wood Memorial and was moved up to third in the Derby, is a live player in this division. So is Code of Honor, who was moved up to second in the Derby and passed on the Belmont to focus on a summer campaign. And so is Game Winner, even if this 2-year-old champ hasn’t won a race at 3, because he has suffered some brutal trips this year. The Triple Crown is over, but the 3-year-old male division is as wide open as it can possibly be. Step right up. Anyone can win. Belmont Stakes Festival notes: **As noted in this space last week, as the only true stretch-out sprinter in the race, and for having raced only as far as seven furlongs once, Mitole was the big wild card in a Grade 1 Met Mile on Saturday that many billed as the best race so far this year in North America. Well, this wild card took down the Met Mile pot. Mitole, in a performance very similar to what was considered his breakthrough in last month’s Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes, rated just off a strong early pace before pulling clear in upper stretch and gamely prevailing. This was Mitole’s seventh straight victory, and he is unquestionably one of the best horses in training in this country. But at the risk of raining on his parade, I think Mitole was very fortunate Saturday. I feel Met Mile runner-up McKinzie was best. McKinzie was really rolling late, getting the place from two-time Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow, who had every chance in the stretch and simply couldn’t follow through. But McKinzie’s run would have begun earlier – and may well have gotten him there in time – had he not been forced to check and angle back toward the inside in upper stretch, stopping the momentum he had been building. In any event, it will be interesting to see what Mitole’s connections do with him now, and if they resist the temptation to stretch him out even farther. It’s of considerable interest because it sure seemed like the mile of the Metropolitan was about his limit. **In the mere 1:33.58 it took to run Saturday’s Grade 1 Acorn, Guarana went from a maiden winner (albeit an impressive one) to the best 3-year-old filly in the country. That’s how sensational she was in victory. There were big reasons to be skeptical about Guarana in the Acorn, even if her nearly 15-length maiden win was a monster one. For one, she was up against seasoned stakes opponents and was at an extreme disadvantage in terms of experience. Moreover, her maiden win came in the slop, which easily could have amplified her performance, and now she was running on a dry track. But talent trumps everything, and Guarana has loads of it. She tracked a scorching pace from close range and then proceeded to crush the Kentucky Oaks winner, Serengeti Empress, by six large lengths. It must be noted that Guarana did find her way to the inside in the Acorn rather quickly (a deft move on the part of jockey Jose Ortiz), and the inside had been by far the best part of the Belmont main track all week. And Guarana only had to move one path off the rail to blast her way past Serengeti Empress at the top of the stretch. All that is true, and yet it doesn’t detract one bit from Guarana’s Acorn performance, or the context around it. She’s special. **There is quite a rivalry brewing between Homerique and Competitionofideas, a rivalry that would be even more intense if they didn’t both reside in Chad Brown’s barn. Still, Homerique and Competitionofideas have something going. They finished just a half-length apart when one-two in last month’s Beaugay, after which the talk was that Competitionofideas might have done better had she not been stuck down inside. Well, they finished just a neck apart in Friday’s Grade 2 New York Stakes, with Homerique again getting the decision. This time, Competitionofideas went outside (and I mean way outside) as Homerique got sweetly through between horses in upper stretch. It could well be that Homerique is just that much better than Competitionofideas. But Competitionofideas conceded so much more ground than Homerique in the New York (not to mention critical pace position behind very slow fractions) that there is plenty of reason to think with just with even circumstances, Competitionofideas could easily turn the tables. That’s the basis of a terrific rivalry. Either way, though, these are two fine turf fillies. **Brown, in fact, has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fine turf fillies (dirt ones too – he trains Guarana), and his defending divisional champ Sistercharlie hasn’t even started this year. Another one of Brown’s monster turf females ran in Saturday’s Grade 1 Just A Game Stakes, in which his Rushing Fall produced a dominant front-running score, completing one mile over the Widener turf course in a wild 1:31.67. Yes, the turf at Belmont has been extremely fast in recent days. The Just A Game was Rushing Fall’s third straight Grade 1 stakes victory, her fourth Grade 1 win overall, her fourth straight stakes score, and her seventh graded stakes victory overall in a career that has seen her win eight of nine starts with one second. **Since we’re talking about Guarana (Chad Brown), Homerique (Chad Brown), Competitionofideas (Chad Brown), and Rushing Fall (Chad Brown), I suppose this would be a good time to mention that Chad Brown ran one-two-three in Saturday’s Grade 1 Manhattan with Bricks and Mortar, Robert Bruce, and Raging Bull. Raging Bull ran better with blinkers on, and Robert Bruce ran better back on the firm turf he craves, but Bricks and Mortar is just better than them and every other grass male who has set foot on a turf course in the U.S. this year. What is especially stunning about Bricks and Mortar is that he has now won all four of his starts this season, and three of them (the Pegasus World Cup Turf, the Turf Classic, and the Manhattan) came in races with seven-figure purses. The year isn’t even half over, and Bricks and Mortar has already won three races each worth $1 million or more. **I understand that when Midnight Bisou tracked behind the pace set by Come Dancing, she did so racing on the live rail. And I realize that when Midnight Bisou overtook Come Dancing, she overtook an opponent who stumbled at the start. But I don’t care. Midnight Bisou was still most impressive in winning Saturday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps. Midnight Bisou is now 8 for 8 in her 15-race career going 1 1/16 miles, and 0 for 4 going 1 1/8 miles and up. I don’t think that is a fluke. I do feel Midnight Bisou has some distance limitations. But given the current landscape across many stakes divisions, I’d be surprised if Midnight Bisou doesn’t catch a field in the not-too-distant future that will give her a golden opportunity to record her first victory at a distance longer than 1 1/16 miles. **That was a very good return to the races by Catalina Cruiser in Friday’s Grade 2 True North. Catalina Cruiser, who was so impressive in winning his first four career starts, including romps in the Grade 2 San Diego and Grade 2 Pat O’Brien last summer at Del Mar, was making his first start since suffering his first defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last fall. Not only did Catalina Cruiser have to overcome the layoff, a bit of a slow beginning also put him in a spot where he had to overcome a main track that was very kind, if not biased, to inside runners and speed. It is to Catalina Cruiser’s credit that he overcame all of that, and it casts what would otherwise be a just-okay winning Beyer of 103 in a different light. **World of Trouble did his thing again in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jaipur, which means he won. The Jaipur was World of Trouble’s seventh stakes score from his last eight starts, and those wins came on any kind of surface you can think of, from firm to off turf, on fast dirt and in the slop. It’s tough to argue with anyone who thinks World of Trouble is the best sprinter in the world. He’s certainly the most versatile.