Randy Gathers No Moss on CYInterview: Horse Racing Handicapper Randy Moss of NBC Sports Back to Preview Belmont Stakes
Since 1978 there have been 11 horses that have failed to win the Triple Crown after winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. This weekend, I’ll Have Another will attempt to be the first horse in 34 years to win the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes. It’s one of the most daunting tasks in sports. We welcome back horse racing expert and handicapper Randy Moss to tell what we can expect at the Belmont. Mr. Moss will be anchoring the coverage of the Belmont Stakes, this weekend, on NBC Sports. You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:
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Focusing on how the atmosphere is different when a horse comes to the Belmont Stakes after winning both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, Randy discusses the anticipation for this weekend’s running:
“I think what’s happened over the course of the last 34 years since Affirmed won the last Triple Crown in 1978 is that with each successive horse that comes to the Belmont with a chance to pull off the sweep but fails, the anticipation for the next Triple Crown winner just gets heightened and we’ve been through that 11 times now, 11 times since 1978 a horse has come here to Belmont after Derby or Preakness wins only to fail in what they call the test of the champion here at a mile and a half. So I think that has just made the you know, the public interest in I’ll Have Another that much higher.”
I’ll Have Another is the odds on favorite to win the Belmont Stakes, but the veteran horse racing expert says the horse probably will not win the Belmont on Saturday. He further explains:
“I’d say probably not… Even though I’ll Have Another is a heavy betting favorite and even though he comes into this race off the Derby and the Preakness wins, you look back at the horses that got to this point and failed and there have been you know, a half dozen horses whose abilities and whose accomplishments arguably were even great than I’ll Have Another’s and they couldn’t pull it off…He’s got three legitimate horses to have to run against Saturday. All of whom who come into the Belmont Stakes fresher than I’ll Have Another who of course by nature the Triple Crown will be running for the third time in five weeks and I’ll Have Another also had a very demanding, very difficult victory in the Preakness.”
Though Randy Moss doesn’t believe the 1.5 mile distance is a reason I’ll Have Another won’t win this weekend, he says many horses and their owners are skipping the earlier legs of the Triple Crown in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes to be more rested for the Belmont Stakes.
“I think it’s the fact that you know he’s being asked to run in a third very tough major stakes race in five weeks whereas the other horses come into this race a bit more rested and that’s a formula that has been very difficult to beat in the last dozen years. The last 12 years of the Belmont Stakes, only two winners have been horses that ran in both the Derby and the Preakness. The others were all more rested. It’s become the trend now to bring horses to the Belmont Stakes that have had a four or a five week rest and you know fresh legs are pretty tough to beat when you come here.”
Finally, the NBC Sports analyst provides us with the overview of this weekend’s Belmont Stakes, some betting advice and the other horses that will give I’ll Have Another a run for his money:
“I think Paynter probably has the best chance to beat I’ll Have Another, but I think Union Rags would be very close behind that as well as Dullahan. You know I think all three of those horses have all the credentials to knock off I’ll Have Another. All three of them have significant pluses in their favor and you know I know some very sharp bettors who are you know very seasoned and very reasoned in their opinions and you know they think that the best thing to do is just to take those three horses and combined them in various different bets and just try to beat I’ll Have Another altogether…I’ll Have Another is a nice horse, he’s a very talented horse, he’s a very determined horse, he has his supporters, he has his pluses, but history just tells us that it’s an awfully tough feat to pull off.”
Editor’s note: After this CYInterview was conducted with Randy Moss, I’ll Have Another was pulled from the Belmont field due to injury.
Randy Moss’s Official Twitter is here.
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