National Treasure Pursues Preakness-Belmont Double

Eighteen horses in the long history of the Triple Crown have managed the Preakness Stakes (G1)—Belmont Stakes (G1) double without a Kentucky Derby (G1) victory, with Cloverbrook the first in 1877 and Afleet Alex  the last in 2005.

National Treasure , a fresh-running winner of the May 20 Preakness, will try to become the 19th when he races in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes June 10 at Belmont Park.

History is not entirely on his side. Not since Pillory in 1922 has a horse pulled off the Preakness-Belmont double without having raced in the Derby. The Preakness winner in 2021, Rombauer , was the last to attempt it, finishing third behind Essential Quality   and Hot Rod Charlie  in the Belmont three weeks later.

The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old colt has trained at Belmont Park leading up to Saturday's race under the oversight of Baffert assistant Jimmy Barnes, recording two workouts, a half-mile breeze May 30 in :50.62 under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez and a follow-up five-furlong move June 5 under exercise rider Erick Garcia in :59.55.

"He shipped up from Baltimore and has been very comfortable here, worked out (Monday) and looked beautiful," Barnes said at the post-position draw June 6.

A winner of two of six starts and $1,335,000 for owners SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, National Treasure can legitimize his status among the elite 3-year-olds in the country with a top effort Saturday. 

Having set a gentle pace in defeating six rivals in a Preakness that had only two existing graded stakes winners, one of which was quick-returning Derby winner Mage , National Treasure is the fourth choice on the morning line for Saturday's race at 5-1 odds.

Earlier this spring in an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the Derby, he ran fourth in the April 8 Santa Anita Derby (G1) in one start for trainer Tim Yakteen, a barn change made due to Churchill Downs Inc.'s two-year private-party suspension of the Hall of Fame trainer for equine medication violations in 2020-21.

The 3-year-old, who has placed in three other graded races, including a pair of grade 1s, has the faith of his connections.

"The horse has come out of the Preakness in fabulous shape," SF Racing's Tom Ryan, the ownership group's managing partner, said last week. "He's moving super. His mind is in a great place. His appetite is fantastic. He's given all the right indications. Johnny V. made it very clear to me (after the late May workout). He said, 'Tom, the horse feels great.'"

The Southern California-based Baffert—a Hall of Famer bidding for his fourth Belmont Stakes victory, having won it in 2001 with Preakness winner Point Given and later with Triple Crown winners American Pharoah   (2015) and Justify   (2018)—arrived on the Belmont Park backstretch June 9.

As in the Preakness, his trainee would appear to have the advantage of being the primary speed of Saturday's race under two-time Belmont winner Velazquez.

Speaking with New York Racing Association publicity about National Treasure's head win in the Preakness over Blazing Sevens , which gave Baffert a record-extending 17th win in the Triple Crown series, he said, "We were really proud of the way he dug in. We figured the distance would help him the further they went."