Lani, finally at ease, aims to make history at Belmont
Katie Lamb will be providing preview content for the Belmont Stakes for theScore. Katie's horse-racing coverage has appeared in The New York Times and the Toronto Star.
Belmont Stakes contender Lani has gone from naughty to nice since arriving in New York to contest in the third leg of the Triple Crown.
In fact, according to his trainer, the 3-year-old Japanese colt has taken on an empire state of mind since arriving in the Big Apple.
Related: Preakness winner Exaggerator draws No. 11 post for Belmont Stakes
“He likes his surroundings here at Belmont Park,” trainer Mikio Matsunaga told Blood-Horse through an interpreter. “He’s been having a good time in New York and we’re looking forward to running Saturday.”
The mercurial son of Tapit, the leading sire in the United States, Lani is one of 13 horses to run in the Belmont. Lani and Preakness winner Exaggerator are the only two horses to run in both the Derby and Preakness.
Lani will break from post 10 in the Belmont. His morning-line odds are 20-1. Exaggerator, the race favorite, will start from the 11-hole and his odds are 9-5.
A well-documented handful for his trainer and exercise rider all throughout the run-up to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Lani has found Zen in Belmont’s big barn area and the great 1 ½-mile track, which his connections say is similar to the surroundings he's used to at his home base in Japan.
Prior to the Derby and Preakness, Lani was easy to spot amid all the horses out for their early morning exercise - he was the loudest of all, calling out when he saw other horses. And he would throw tantrums and act obstinate toward his handlers. But since then he's become more acclimated to his American surroundings, acting every bit the part of a professional racehorse ready for a big race.
Related: Morning line odds favor Exaggerator in Belmont Stakes
“If he didn’t wear a saddle towel with his name on it and didn’t make four laps around the track every day, it would be hard to distinguish him from any other horse,” Daily Racing Form’s David Grening reported last week.
The four laps around the track may be playing a key part in Lani’s behavior: it’s unorthodox that a thoroughbred would spend that much time on the racetrack daily. Most exercise for 1 and ½ or two miles each day. But the extra time on the track does not seem to be having a negative effect on his stamina. On Wednesday, the gray posted his final workout for Saturday’s race, breezing five furlongs in 1:00:43, which, according to horse racing database Equibase, was the second-fastest time at that distance of the day.
In fact, Lani’s extended work schedule may benefit him for the 1 ½-mile race, dubbed “the test of a champion.” He’s proven that going the distance will not be a problem for him.
Should Lani win, he will be the first Japanese-owned and trained horse to claim a Triple Crown race and the first from that country to compete in all three legs. He finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby on May 7 and fifth in the Preakness on May 21.
“I was very happy with his condition before the Preakness but I’m even happier going into this,” Matsunaga said. “He’s had two races in the United States now, so he’s used to the race style in the States. This race is the ideal trip for Lani so if he were to win it - no surprise.”