Mindframe ran a Huge race - *BUT I believed in Dornoch when most "experts" didn't. Just b/c a horse doesn't fire in main prep race (Bluegrass) before the Derby and has a bad trip in the Derby, doesn't mean he can't regain his form back. Birdstone and Lemon Drop Kid are good examples. Had the Trifecta w/ DORNOCH. Dornoch showed fight and grit at the end holding off Mindframe.
Scrutiny of the elapsed times between calls makes me consider that the track was playing very much slower than the raw final times or Beyers. If so the horses that ran the hardest will need longer recoveries or may never be the same, and the runners who gave in to the difficulty thus reserving themselves may prove this whole day to be a multiple super key race day. A great day in all respects much waranting review. Thanks Bob.
Dornoch is the best 3 year old in this crop and he just proved it. The excuses for Mindframe and Sierra Leone are valid but they were beaten by a superior effort from Dornoch in the Belmont. Dornoch took on Sieze the Grey and ran him into submission and still had enough to look Mindframe in the eye and put him away. Dornoch was still running strongly at the end of the race and the gallop out shows that he clearly was not letting anyone pass him. It is going to take another effort or two just like it in the Haskell or Travers to get the respect he is due.
We'll see. Dornoch did get some lucky trips. For instance, in the Remsen last year, the track was very speed favoring and he wired the field. Then in the Fountain Of Youth, all of the good horses were scratched and he beat a very poor field. So basically he has won good effort, the Belmont.
