Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

Afleet Alex is an awesome racehorse, as he emphatically proved with his back-from-the-brink-of-disaster victory in the Preakness Stakes. But in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, he’ll have to dip even deeper into his well of magnificence if he is to defeat Kentucky Derby nemesis Giacomo, a Derby also-ran who has many of the same traits as last year’s Belmont winner and eight Triple Crown newcomers.

He can do it, but he’s a lousy bet if he goes off anywhere near his 6-5 morning line odds.

That’s because while Afleet Alex appears outclass his 10 equine rivals, he won’t encounter his most formidable foe until he is barreling down the long sandy stretch of the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes. That enemy is the exhausting final quarter mile of a race that is accurately known as “The Test of a Champion.” 

A miraculous recovery
Though Afleet Alex won’t be shooting for the Triple Crown, having finished third behind Giacomo in the Kentucky Derby, he assumed the role of heavy favorite with his miraculous victory in the Preakness Stakes. After clipping heels with rival Scrappy T at the top of the stretch and coming within inches of tumbling face first to the ground, the son of Northern Afleet stabbed out with a leg, pulled himself back to his feet and sprinted to what otherwise might have been called an easy 4 3/4-length victory.

But while Afleet Alex has proven that he has an abundant supply of courage, agility and the physical ability to travel what is known in modern racing as the “classic distance” – 1 ¼ miles – he now he must demonstrate the same talents at a throwback distance that he will probably never attempt again.

To lend some perspective, in covering the added distance of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, Afleet Alex will have to run nearly 4½ football fields farther than he did in the Kentucky Derby — a race in which his trainer admitted he was exhausted as he staggered like a spent prizefighter through the final yards.

You don’t need to be a longtime student of the racing game to come up with a list of top-flight 3-year-olds who have tried and failed to conquer those 2 extra furlongs — horses like Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, Charismatic, Real Quiet and Silver Charm, to name but a few from recent years.

All were run down either by fresher competitors who hadn’t been drained by running in the Derby and Preakness or horses with the old-school bloodlines to handle the marathon distance of the Belmont.

Comparisons to Point Given
Those lessons aren’t necessarily lost on many of Afleet Alex’s backers. They are thinking of another horse whose trajectory to New York closely resembles the current scenario – 2001 Belmont winner Point Given.

There are a number of parallels between Afleet Alex and Point Given.

Both horses were strongly regarded entering the Derby, but disappointed their supporters when they failed to cope with unrealistically fast pace scenarios.

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And after their Derby setbacks, both horses responded to win the Preakness impressively, beating their Derby conquerors in the process.

Point Given then turned in one of the most impressive Belmont performances in years, trouncing his opponents by 12¼ lengths under jockey Gary Stevens.

Afleet Alex could turn in a similarly dominating performance Saturday, but there are a couple reasons to be cautious about wagering greenbacks that he will.

The first is pace.

Point Given was possessed of excellent speed that allowed him to sit in the ideal stalking position behind pace-setter Balto Star before making his move around the far turn and opening up on the field.

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