FINALLY, A HUGE SPORTING EVENT TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEKEND

The Kentucky Derby is often called the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. But this is 2020, and after months of watching nothing but the Korean Baseball League’s exhibition season and scrimmage games, Saturday’s Belmont Stakes should go down in history as the most exhilarant, electrifying, rip-roaring, sensational 2 minutes of anything that ever happened on the planet earth.  At least to us.

The race is traditionally slotted in early June - five weeks following the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes in Maryland- and is always the 3rd and final leg of the Triple Crown classics.  This year, however, it will be the first leg -due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and it all starts this Saturday, June 20 (post time:6:30 pm). It will be followed by the Kentucky Derby on September 5 (the first Saturday in September) and the Preakness on October 3.

The Belmont Stakes is normally 1 1/2 mile race - one full lap of the massive oval known as "Big Sandy”. This year’s race has been shortened to just 1 1/8 miles.  Under these new conditions, here are the early odds for this card:

Tiz the Law (6-5) Sole Volante (9-2) Dr Post (5-1) Tap It to Win (6-1) Pneumatic (8-1) Max Player (15-1) Modernist (15-1) Farmington Road (15-1) Fore Left (30-1) Jungle Runner (50-1)

While the Corona Virus has kept Northville Downs - Michigan’s only racetrack and horse racing wagering site closed, you can legally place bets at a number of web sites including www.drf.com/bet and watch the race on TV.