Creative Minister Making Believers Into Belmont

When the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) is renewed June 11, it will mark the second consecutive year that not a single 3-year-old will have run in all three legs of the Triple Crown. Creative Minister , however, has maintained a Triple Crown-like schedule.

In addition to running third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) three weeks ago at Pimlico Race Course, the 3-year-old gray son of Creative Cause   won an allowance optional claiming race on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) undercard May 7 at Churchill Downs. So, besides making his third start in five weeks, he will also have run at all three Triple Crown tracks.

More often than many other leading trainers in recent years, Creative Minister's trainer, Kenny McPeek, is willing to run a horse in a staying race on short rest, provided the horse shows him the indications to warrant it.

In 2018 he won the Louisville Handicap (G3T) at Churchill Downs with Vettori Kin , who returned on six days rest for the 1 1/2-mile grass contest. And, as it relates to the Belmont, 20 years ago McPeek also scored the greatest upset in Belmont Stakes history when Sarava upset the field at 70-1 odds three weeks after winning the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard.

"Sarava ran a similar pattern. He ran (in mid April at Keeneland), came back at Pimlico, and Belmont," said McPeek, noting the preparation of the colts. "It's doable. I think especially with horses not running on Lasix in this day and age, I think it's a little easier on them too because the dehydration factor—that's not there.

"But he's a horse that's real sturdy, eats up really, really well. If he wasn't, we wouldn't be going."

WATCH: McPeek Discusses Sarava, Training Creative Minister

A short break is planned for Creative Minister following the Belmont, McPeek said, fairly standard practice for Belmont-participating 3-year-olds to await the summer's most prestigious races such as the Aug. 27 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1).

Creative Minister's participation in the Belmont couldn't have been clearly foreseen just two months ago, owing to sudden, late development. Entering racing April 9, the date of Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, he was still a maiden. He graduated from the maiden ranks that afternoon for owners Fern Circle Stables and Back Racing. Sherri McPeek's Magdalena Racing was added as owner for his last race.

He won't shock bettors Saturday if he wins the "Test of the Champion." He is the fourth-betting choice on the morning line behind We the People , Mo Donegal , and Rich Strike .

"This is the probably the shortest odds horse I have run in a Triple Crown race in my career—at 6-1," quipped McPeek. "And so we've managed to overcome it."

In addition to Sarava's Belmont, McPeek has a victory in the 2020 Preakness Stakes with champion Swiss Skydiver . He has also come close in the first leg of the Triple Crown, running second in 1995 with his first Kentucky Derby starter, Tejano Run.

His first Belmont experience came in 1999 when Pineaff finished ninth. The loss was humbling, a learning experience for the trainer, who came to believe that a home-track advantage exists.

"The trainers that are based here at Belmont have a bit of an advantage. It's tricky," said McPeek of racing at Belmont.

So, first with Sarava in 2002 and now with Creative Minister, he opted to bring the colts straight to Belmont Park from Pimlico to give them time to train locally.

Creative Minister is more seasoned than he was going into the Preakness, which marked his fourth career start and first in a stakes race. He proved he belonged, advancing in traffic from fifth to finish 3 1/2 lengths behind victorious Early Voting  and 2 1/4 lengths behind runner-up Epicenter .

"We had an inside trip the whole way, and turning for home, he made a run at those horses," jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said. "I think those other horses were a little more experienced, just kind of got the better of him that day."

He doesn't have to deal with either rival Saturday. Both Early Voting and Epicenter are sitting out the Belmont Stakes, leaving him as the top returnee from the second leg of the Triple Crown.

How he handles the distance is the great unknown, as it is for every one of the eight starters.

"That's the thing—he's a lightly raced horse, but nobody else has tried the mile and a half, either," Hernandez said. "He's answered all our questions so well."

WATCH: Hernandez Happy With Creative Minister's Preakness Third

One factor suggesting he could handle the trip is having Tapit   blood in his pedigree. The Dell Ridge Farm-bred Creative Minister, a $180,000 purchase by McPeek in the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the St George Sales consignment, is the sixth black-type horse out of the Tapit mare Tamboz .

Tapit is the most successful sire in the modern history of the Belmont Stakes with four winners, all since 2014. A son of Tapit, Constitution  , also sired 2020 Belmont winner Tiz the Law, though the Belmont that year was run at 1 1/8 miles during a Triple Crown season altered by the onset of COVID-19.

On the other side of Creative Minister's pedigree is Creative Cause, a grade 1-winning millionaire, who like Creative Minister, finished third in the Preakness, running behind I'll Have Another  and Bodemeister   in 2012.

Creative Minister was the top-priced yearling by Airdrie Stud stallion Creative Cause that was sold in 2020.

To merely be in a position to pursue the Belmont with Creative Minister is a surprise. McPeek did not initially nominate him to the Triple Crown, as he did his established young horses this spring—runners such as stakes winners Smile Happy , Tiz the Bomb , Rattle N Roll , and Dash Attack . So when Creative Minister ran such a sparkling race on Derby Day, warranting his Triple Crown participation, a $150,000 supplemental fee was needed to pursue the series.

The owners essentially recouped that investment in the Preakness plus a little more, making $181,500.

"I'm kicking myself why I didn't nominate him—well, I know why—he did not train forwardly as a 2-year-old at all, and even as an early 3, it seemed like he was going to be a horse that would have a hard time making these kind of races," McPeek said. "Then he started blooming in February, March, and of course, April. And all of a sudden, it was like, we might have something here. It was kind of an unusual series of events. 

"Yeah, I wished I nominated him 'cause I own part of the horse and I had to pay up, too. It's all good. We got it back."

And potentially more by Saturday.