Top pick: #9 (Sierra Leone) (9-5) - Two straight impressive wins for this Chad Brown horse before a second-place finish in a thrilling Kentucky Derby. Sierra Leone's style is to be patient, wait for an opening, then charge hard down the stretch. Strategy, stamina, and experience, winning the Blue Grass Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths before that razor-close Derby finish. He's never been worse than second in five races and will be fresh after skipping the Preakness.
2nd pick: #3 (Mystik Dan) (5-1) - This 3-year-old colt finished second in the Preakness after winning the Kentucky Derby at this same 1 1/4 distance. Over the last four races, Mystik Dan has two victories, one second-place finish, and one third. Only two horses in this race also ran in the Preakness, Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey. That's only three weeks of rest.
3rd pick: #1 (Honor Marie) (12-1) - Honor Marie is under the radar after a Kentucky Derby showing where a lot of things went wrong, finishing eighth. The horse came away physically in excellent shape, and the plan for the Belmont is to avoid contact out of the gate. The eighth post is another plus favoring that strategy. Honor Marie won the Kentucky Jockey Club, lost to Sierra Leon in the Risen Star, then finished second in the Louisiana Derby two races ago in March by a length to Catching freedom.