Belmont Doings: Classic Empire, Japanese Invader Epicharis likely; 13 considering
 

Interview with @ Kiyoshi Hagiwara Epicharis{@3:20

I followed Lani's efforts here, & he just didn't have enough early speed to compete. If you couple that with his sort of immature behavior off track, he had no chance. As I recall he just sort of inherited 3rd in the Belmont. His trainer said that while he wanted to come back, people were rude to him.

At any rate if this horse doesn't have enough speed to stay in contact with the leader, he might as well stay home. Just my 2$:)

IRAP going to the Ohio Derby

Classic Empire should win this race easily if he gets even a C+ ride

I don't see him getting the distance and was totally unimpressed with how he found a way to (not win?) lose in the Preakness.

Can I throw out the dismissive "toss" if in fact he won't be on my tickets? :popcorn:

Anyone have last quarter times for the Preakness?

Here are the Final Quarters for Preakness horses from my program.

Senior Investment............25.15
Lookin At Lucky...............25.20
Multiplier........................25.31
Classic Empire.................25.70
Conquest Mo Money.........25.82

Conquest Mo Money to pass on Belmont.

Has any horse run in the Derby and Preakness, not having won, to come back and win in the Belmont?

I can't recall this ever happening. I think it's another reason why I'm loving tossing Classic Empire in this upcoming gem.

As an aside, do you guys think that the Preakness wasn't a relatively broken down scenario? How can you excuse CE's performance after that trip and his positiong/lead at the top of the strech (and into the final furlong)?

Bet Twice in 87

Classic Empire had reason to quit in the Preakness. He had to confront the Derby champion early in the midst of a fast pace, and then hold off the closers.

Getting tired at shorter distances doesn't always mean the horse can't win going longer. If that were true, Palace Malice wouldn't have gone from fading in the Kentucky Derby to winning the Belmont.

I agree with your premise but the example is a poor one. Palice Malice ran off in the Derby with the addition of blinkers. Blinkers off in the Belmont allowed him to relax.

Palace Malice didn't run 3 [grueling] races in 5 weeks. Thus, my last question.

Thanks. I just had a look at Bet Twice (FOY winner), barely losing twice in Derby and Preakness to Alysheba, then showing he was actually better than Alysheba in the Belmont, Haskell, then neither fired in the sloppy track Travers. Sounds like a top 3 year old. I'm fine that this is the only example to date; I don't see a resume of Classic Empire anywhere near Bet Twice, though admittedly CE could mature into it. I just don't find this group anywhere near as classy, and CE hasn't really impressed me in any of his races as a 3 year old. The last one was good, but disappointing ultimately, which is exactly what my opinion of him is.