SARATOGA SPRINGS — Journalism is the lead story in horse racing in the days leading up the Belmont Stakes.
The Preakness champion enters as the 8-5 favorite for Saturday’s 157th edition of the third jewel in the Triple Crown, narrowly edging out Kentucky Derby victor Sovereignty, who holds 2-1 odds on the morning line.
As with any juicy tale, Journalism’s comes with a helping of controversy after his rock-’em, sock-’em dash to the wire at Pimlico on May 17.
As the field turned for home, Journalism was on the rail and in a box, behind Gosger and Clever Again with Goal Oriented on his outside.
Connections on all sides would run with their own accounts of what happened next.
Industry publication Paulick Report notes that Journalism’s right shoulder seemed to make contact with Goal Oriented’s left hip, prompting Goal Oriented to veer inward and inadvertently sending Journalism into a collision with Clever Again.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli skillfully maneuvered Journalism between the two horses, emerging only to find Gosger pulling ahead. However, like a high-powered drag racer, Journalism accelerated and closed the gap with Gosger.
The pull quote from Clever Again’s trainer Steve Asmussen was that Rispoli rode Journalism “like a rented mule.” But Rispoli and Journalism’s trainer Michael McCarthy tell it differently.
“That’s part of horse racing. Sometimes you can have an easy trip, sometimes it gets a little crowded, you can have some bounce around. We came out of there pretty good,” Rispoli, the 36-year-old Italian who scored his first Triple Crown victory, told The Post as he watched Journalism work out on Saratoga’s main track Tuesday morning.
“When I saw Gosger open up four lengths in front of me, it puts you in a tough situation to think that you can go and get him. But [Journalism] got the job done.”
“Very brave effort, horse and rider,” McCarthy said. “To do what they did inside the 16th pole is certainly something special. I read somewhere that [Journalism’s] stride increased in length by about two feet in that last 16th of a mile, so that’s pretty impressive.”
In Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, the second to be held at Saratoga during the $455 million renovation of Belmont Park, Journalism will get another crack at Sovereignty.
The latter won their stretch battle in the Kentucky Derby by a head. It will be Journalism’s third race in 35 days, while Sovereignty has been resting and training since the Derby.
Rispoli, however, doesn’t see it necessarily as just a two-horse battle in the expected field of eight.
“Obviously we are the two that won the first two legs and people want to see a rematch, but I think Baeza will be there as well,” said Rispoli, who has more than 2,000 career wins, with more than 600 coming since he moved from Italy to the United States in 2020. “We don’t need to disrespect any other horse in this field. If they are here, there’s a reason.”
Rispoli knows the reason Journalism is here.
“He’s special. He takes the job [seriously], and he knows when he needs to be really serious and when he can chill around,” the jockey said. “It’s a different horse. Hopefully the Belmont will give us another Triple Crown [victory].”
For McCarthy, the 54-year-old former assistant to Todd Pletcher, the Preakness was his second career Triple Crown triumph. He sent Rombauer to the winner’s circle in the 2021 Preakness. Rombauer then cashed a show ticket in the Belmont Stakes.
McCarthy’s training operation is based in California. He says this week’s Upstate New York weather has been similar to what Journalism is accustomed to.
This, however, will be the horse’s first race at The Spa. Tuesday morning, McCarthy and an entourage walked Journalism from his barn, across four-lane Union Avenue, down a long, manicured horse path and into the paddock so he could get a taste of his surroundings.
“Just to give him some familiarity, something to do,” McCarthy said. “We have a lot of time on our hands here.”
In due time, Journalism’s story will be written in full.
