HorseracingFLA Staff Report
Destin finished second on Saturday in the Belmont Stakes (Grade 1), coming within a nose of being just the second winner of the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade 2) to also win a Triple Crown race.
Destin took the lead about a quarter mile from the finish in the 1 ½ mile Belmont at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Creator, in sixth place after a mile, rallied to beat Destin by a nose.
Note – Creator is on the outside in the photo on the home page.
Street Sense won the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and Kentucky Derby (Grade 1) in 2007. Destin also won this year’s Sam F. Davis Stakes (Grade 3) at Tampa Bay Downs and finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby. He did not run in the Preakness (Grade 1).
Todd Pletcher trains Destin for Twin Creeks Racing Stable.
Javier Castellano rode Destin in the Tampa Bay Derby, Kentucky Derby and Belmont. John Velazquez rode the colt, a son of Giant’s Causeway in the Sam F. Davis.
The Belmont had 13 starters. Creator, at 16-1, was the seventh betting choice and Destin, at 8-1, was the fourth betting choice. The $2 exacta paid $269.00.
Destin was one of five Belmont starters that trained in Florida and raced at Tampa Bay Downs and/or Gulfstream Park during the past winter.
The others and their place of finish in the Belmont are: Stradivari—fifth; Brody’s Cause—sixth; Cherry Wine—seventh; and Gettysburg—eighth.
Triple Crown Bets
We did not have Creator in the top spots in any of our recommended bets on the Belmont.
Our key horses were Stradivari, who finished fifth, and the favorite Exaggerator, who finished 11th.
Thus, none of our suggested Belmont bets were winners.
That followed the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, when our published recommended bets produced positive returns on investment.
*Kentucky Derby
Recommended bets-$78.00
Total Payoff — $95.25
Return on Investment – 22 percent
*Preakness
Recommended bets — $64
Total Payoffs — $99.35
Return on Investment – 55 percent
*Belmont
Recommended bets — $86
Total Payoffs — $0
*Triple Crown
Recommended bets – $228
Total Payoffs — $194.60
Return on Investment — minus 15 percent
