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Stay Thirst Is a 20-1 Longshot in 2011 Belmont Stakes Unlike most other sports, there's not much room for rhetoric when it comes to horse racing. At least, there shouldn't be. After all, horses can't talk. But because owners and trainers talk for them, there is more than enough rhetoric to go around. For example, I shall refer you to Stay Thirsty, who is represented by owner Mike Repole. A native of Queens who grew up taking in races at Belmont Park, Repole thinks his horse has two distinct advantages heading into tomorrow's running of the Belmont Stakes. "Stay Thirsty has the home-track advantage," said Repole earlier this week, according to The Wall Street Journal. "He has two wins and two seconds in New York." Maybe so, but only won of those four races was at Belmont Park, and it was all the way back in July of 2010. That makes it hard to believe in the notion that Stay Thirsty has the "home-track advantage." MUST READ: One Fact About Each Belmont Stakes Horse
However, Stay Thirsty's pedigree might just come into play. He was sired by 2006 Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini. His dam, Marozia, had success running 1.5-mile races in England. "He has the pedigree to run two miles," said Repole. That may be, but the good news is that Belmont Park is only 1.5 miles. It is easily the longest of the three Triple Crown races, topping the Kentucky Derby by a quarter-mile. That pretty much makes it the hardest of the three to predict. That said, the odds-makers aren't predicting Stay Thirsty to be much of a factor tomorrow. Starting from the No. 2 gate, he is a 20-1 longshot. Naturally, Repole is not fazed. "I'll take my 20-1 odds and feel like I'm the favorite. It's an impossible race to handicap," he said. This will be Stay Thirsty's first race since the Kentucky Derby. He was also a 20-1 longshot at Churchill Downs, and stumbled to a 12th-place finish. Well, after a race like that, the only way to go is up.
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