Some things to consider:
Pletcher looks good with Sunriver and Bluegrass Cat, the 2 favourites
but…
Pletcher is 0-4 in the Belmont, never hitting the board
Bluegrass Cat is coming in to the race looking very much like another Pletcher horse who also ran 2nd in the Derby before getting laid out in the Belmont…that was Invisible Ink
Sunriver looks decent, but has yet to beat any of the top 3 year olds, those odds might be a bit low for a horse that has yet to prove he belongs with the best, he should handle the distance and is coming in off a good prep
Bob and John is interesting, he threw in a crapper in the Derby and his DI profile suggests he might struggle going even longer, but trainer Baffert hits the board at a 50% rate in this race and he is coming in off multiple bullet works
Hemingway’s Key can go the distance and is improving with every start, but he might still be a bit short with his development, trainer Zito hits the board 53% of the time in this race, at his home track
Steppenwolfer has the best DI profile in here, it is a guaranteed lock that he will love the added distance, look closely, he gets better every time he goes longer, he has never been off the board in his life on the dirt, including a 3rd place finish in the Derby in his last start…very serious contender
Oh So Awesome will get the distance, since i own awesomeagain.com, i know his bloodline pretty good, its tough to get a good read on this guy, he has 1 race on the dirt over a sloppy track which i think he will improve on in here, with added Lasix i expect he’ll run a Beyer of 96-99 in the Belmont, that should put him near the top, but he’s a bit of a shot in the dark
High Finance is a horse that i like in here for a few reasons…he is improving fast, and his DI profile suggests he will get the distance, he has never missed the board in his career, he is peaking just now, running at a distance of a mile or over, the only horse to beat him so far was Bernardini, my legendary Preakness pick, i give this guy a big shot at enormous odds, he is 1-1 at Belmont, and trainer Violette is pretty good, even though he’s taking a big jump up in class, making his Stakes debut, he is coming in off 2 consecutive romp wins
Jazil shouldn’t have any trouble with the distance, but this race has never been very friendly to closers who like to come from way out of it like he does
Sacred Light…i don’t get the form here, it says he got beat by Nolan’s Cat last time out, Nolans Cat ran in this race last year, something got screwed up there
This race is particularly tough to handicap, a lot of horses can win it, very close
I will take my shot with High Finance at big odds, and prolly box him up in tri’s with others i think will benefit from the extra distance, Steppenwolfer, Hemingways Key, Oh So Awesome…going for the moon here with the payout probability…Even though others look better on form, i’m throwing them out because they are questionable at low odds, and this race is wide open
Good luck