No, there won’t be any flying privates making any escapes this weekend.

What we are trying to imply here are two of the contenders looking to make a big impact on the 141st Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park this weekend. Yes, the hroses are named Flying Private and Miners Escape.

Flying Private continued an impressive move which saw him open at 25/1 before moving to 20/1 earlier this week and now to 16/1 where he currently resides. Flying Private finished fourth beaten 4 lengths in the Preakness for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which ”just” qualifies as a sharp prep race with a Beyer Speed Figure of 102, not quite par but earns points for breaking 100.

Flying Private ran 4th in an optional claimer at Oaklawn for his 2009 debut, then was 2nd and 4th in similar races also at Oaklawn. Ran 2nd by a head in the Mountain Valley Stakes there then shipped to Turfway to run 2nd in the Lane’s End Stakes. Put in an even effort to finish 5th in the Arkansas Derby. In the Kentucky Derby, he was 5 wide on the first turn then stopped badly after 1 mile finishing 19th and last. In the Preakness he raced 10th early and put in a mild rally to finish 4th beaten 4 lengths.

On the negative side he has too many starts at both 2 and 3, lacks a stakes win, has not run a 106 Beyer, and has points to the right end of the dosage profile.

Then we have Miners Escape. Miners Escape was successful in his stakes debut, winning the Federico Tesio at Pimlico on Kentucky Derby day. The only note in an otherwise insignificant race was the third place finisher, Tone It Down. That horse started in the Preakness next time out, finishing 12th in the 13-horse field. The horse pressed the pace early on in the Tesio before taking over at the midway point and pulling away for a victory of almost five lengths. Beyond the Tesio there aren’t many. He finally broke his maiden in March at Gulfstream, but he had tried five times before that. He’d never finished better than fourth before the win, and had rarely been a significant factor.

Miners Escape is the son of Mineshaft, the Horse of the Year in 2003 as a four year old. Mineshaft was sired by the great A.P. Indy, the 1992 Belmont winner and Horse of the Year. A.P. Indy in turn was sired by Seattle Slew, the 1977 Triple Crown winner. Miners Escape’s dam was sired by Broad Brush. That horse, who died the day before the Preakness this year, was third in the both the Derby and the Preakness in 1986.

Miners Escape might not have shown much on the track yet, but he sure is bred to run. The horse is at his best when he is pressing the pace from right behind the leader. He might be forced to alter that approach and set the pace himself in this race.

Expect both to give Mine That Bird a run for his money.

Can Mine That Bird win the 141st Belmont Stakes? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.

Mine That Bird 1.67

Dunkirk 5.50

Charitable Man 4.50

Chocolate Candy 14.00

Flying Private 17.00

Mr Hot Stuff 21.00

Brave Victory 26.00

Miners Escape 31.00

Summer Bird 26.00

Luv Gov 41.00

Nowhere to Hide 51.00

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Mine That Bird Belmont Stakes