The trainers and the jockeys — and maybe even some of the horses — will miss the roar of the crowd, but they are in agreement that it is better than a sport gone dark during this pandemic.
Even if the Belmont is now the first leg of the Triple Crown and the Preakness will be the last leg.
“It’s crazy, we’ve never seen it before, but we can’t change it,” Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith told The Post. “But hey, you still want to win ’em.
“I want to be the guy who wins the backwards Triple Crown, you know? We’ll call it the Crown Triple, it’s all backwards.”
NYRA announced Tuesday that the Belmont will be held June 20 without fans, to be followed by the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 and the Preakness on Oct. 3.
Smith, who became the oldest jockey (52) to win the Triple Crown in 2018 with Justify, intends to ride in the Belmont.
“Considering the times that we’re in right now, it is what it is,” Smith said. “You hate to see that, man, and it’s sad; you love for our fans to come out and enjoy the day. It’s a very important day in New York history. But it is what it is — all sports aren’t gonna have fans for a while, whether it’s the NBA Finals, or whatever it is that comes up at this point right now. Just gonna have to make it work, but at least you’ll see an opportunity to run and people can see it on TV.”
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won three Belmont Stakes — Justify was his most recent winner — seven Preaknesses and five Derbies, will have two horses — Nadal and undefeated Charlatan — in the Belmont.
He is hopeful that between now and June 20, some restrictions on fans can be lifted.
“Racetracks are always the safest environment for what’s going on in the world, because they’re so big — especially Belmont,” Baffert told The Post. “There’s so much space. … It’s not my call, but the racetrack itself, it’s so big and wide open, social distancing wouldn’t be a problem there. Hopefully by then maybe they could let some people in, I don’t know.”
The 2020 Belmont, originally scheduled for June 6, won’t be The Test of the Champion now that it has been shortened from a mile-and-a-half to a mile-and-an-eighth around one turn.
“It’ll probably be a tougher Belmont than it would have been if we would run it the third time,” Baffert said. “I think it’ll be a more competitive race.”
Smith understands why the Belmont has been shortened.
“I think it’s probably a good idea considering it’s gonna be run first,” Smith said. “For the horses, where they’re at in their conditioning, I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Racing in New York stopped in late March after a backstretch worker at Belmont tested positive for COVID-19, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the OK to resume racing on Saturday. Racing will return to Belmont June 3 and continue through July 12.
“New York fans are tough and they respect. … When Michael Jordan used to go into the Garden back in the day, man, even though they were New York fans, they appreciate greatness,” Smith said. “They loved watching him. New York fans are pretty true, you know?”
The all-sources handle on the 2019 Belmont Stakes, won by Sir Winston, was $53,237,527. The all-sources handle figure for the card of $102,163,280 was an NYRA record for a non-Triple Crown year. This year’s purse will drop from $1.5 million to $1 million because of the closures of racetracks and casinos in New York.
“The Belmont Stakes is a New York institution that will provide world-class entertainment for sports fans during these challenging times,” NYRA president & CEO David O’Rourke said. “While this will certainly be a unique running of this historic race, we are grateful to be able to hold the Belmont Stakes in 2020. Thanks to our partners at NBC Sports, fans across the country can look forward to a day of exceptional thoroughbred racing at a time when entertainment and sports are so important to providing a sense of normalcy.”
Churchill Downs had previously announced the Belmont Stakes would have qualifying points toward a start in the Derby were it to be held prior to the Run for the Roses. The top four finishers are to receive 150-60-30-15 points.
“We’re going through very challenging times right now,” Baffert said. “At least we get to run and we have the horses ready to roll. We have to deal the hand we’re dealt. I still think they’ll be exciting races. We would have loved to have had the traditional Derby-Preakness-Belmont.”
Crown Triple instead.
“People go and watch those beautiful animals perform, it gets your mind off all the bad things that are going on in the world,” Baffert said.
“Horse racing, it’s good for the soul, you know?”