Belmont First Timers

ELMONT, N.Y.–There are a dozen horses signed on to represent 11 different trainers in Saturday's GI Belmont S. While many of those conditioners, such as Todd Pletcher and Dale Romans, are Belmont S. regulars, there are three newcomers to the Test of a Champion.

One is Kiyoshi Hagiwara, trainer of Japan's Epicharis (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}), who was profiled in Wednesday's edition. The TDN's Christie DeBernardis caught up with the other two, Brian Lynch and Brendan Walsh, on the Belmont backstretch to discuss their horses, race strategies and how it feels to be running in their first Belmont S.

Brian Lynch: Meantime

The very personable Brian Lynch was happy to spare a few minutes to discuss Silverton Hill's Meantime (Shackleford) in his office in Barn 19 shortly after getting off his paint pony. Kicking off his career in Canada, Lynch has won every leg of that nation's Triple Crown, but has never even had a runner in any of the American Triple Crown races until now.

“As a horse trainer, I think it's the pinnacle to try and get a horse in one of the legs of the Triple Crown,” the Brisbane, Australia, native said. “It's always been one of my goals. The Canadian Triple Crown is a big to do for sure, but, obviously, the pinnacle of the sport is winning a leg of the U.S. Triple Crown. It is what we get up every day to do. I feel he is going to be competitive and I'm excited to run him.”

Blowing up the tote on debut when running second to reopposing “TDN Rising Star” Patch (Union Rags) at odds of 53-1 at Gulfstream in February, Meantime was third behind another “TDN Rising Star” performance from Time to Travel (Hard Spun) next out there Apr. 1. The chestnut put it all together when stretched to nine panels in the mud at Keeneland Apr. 22, rolling home to a 7 1/2-length graduation, and was second to “TDN Rising Star” Timeline (Hard Spun) in a sloppy renewal of the GII Peter Pan S. last time May 13.

Meantime will face a much more experienced group Saturday, including MGISW Gormley (Malibu Moon) and GII Wood Memorial S. hero Irish War Cry (Curlin), but Lynch is not deterred by his charge's lack of seasoning.

“They are all the same age, but some of them may have more experience and some of them may be just starting to get good,” the conditioner remarked. “We hope we have one that is just starting to get good. They are only three once and they only have limited opportunities to run in a race like the Belmont.”

He continued, “I thought his first stakes attempt in the Peter Pan was a creditable effort. I think some of the horses that he ran against had decent enough form. I think his numbers going into this race say that he is competitive.”

Meantime is a half-brother to MGISW Sweet Reason (Street Sense), who did her best work going a one-turn mile or shorter, and his dam Livermore Leslie was also a sprinter. However, his sophomore sire Shackleford won the GI Preakness S. and Lynch feels Meantime can see out the Belmont's 12 furlongs if things go smoothly.

“[The distance] is the big question mark,” the 57-year-old commented. “His pedigree says he is probably not a mile and a half horse. I feel like they can all get a mile and a half. It just depends who they are running against. If we are lucky enough to get him to relax out there and he can get into a good rhythm, I think he will get the mile and a half.”

Lynch has the right man for the job in the irons in “Big Money” Mike Smith, who will be aboard for the first time Saturday.

“Mike and I have a long rapport,” he explained. “I trained in California for a long time before I came out here. They approached me asking if I was open for a rider. I know when Mike's got the confidence to ride something and I've got the confidence to run that we are both on the same page. Hopefully they have good chemistry and we get a solid performance out of him.”

Meantime drew post nine for the Belmont and was given a 15-1 quote on the morning-line.

“It would have been nice to have drawn inside, but I think he has tactical speed,” Lynch offered. “It's a nice long run to the first turn, so he has plenty of time to get good position going into the first turn.”

Regardless of the result Saturday, Lynch is just happy to participate in his first American Triple Crown race.

“I would absolutely be ecstatic [if we won],” the affable horsemen said. “Just to be in the race and feel like I've got a competitive horse is thrilling enough, but to win it would be overwhelming.”

Brendan Walsh: Multiplier

While Lynch is based at Belmont, Brendan Walsh made the trip in from Keeneland for the final leg of the Triple Crown and has set up shop in the barn of his friend Tom Morley. The Irishman, who went out on his own in 2011, is participating in his second Triple Crown race Saturday, having saddled GIII Illinois Derby winner Multiplier (The Factor) to a sixth-place finish in the Preakness May 20.

“I've been to Belmont a bunch of times, but it is different when it's your own horse,” remarked Walsh just minutes after returning from the track with Morley aboard a stable pony. “It's what everybody dreams about. It's what I dreamt about when I was younger, being live in races like this.”

He continued, “It's just fantastic. You kind of have to pinch yourself to see if it is really happening, especially because I haven't been training that long. Some really good trainers go their whole career without having a runner in a Classic for one reason of another, so it is really great to be here.”

While the Preakness is a major race in its own right, Walsh had his sights set on the Belmont all along and used the Middle Jewel as a stepping stone to get here.

“I always thought this would be his race,” the 44-year-old commented. “Obviously, we didn't want to not run him in between because him being who he is, he needs to be kept racing. We were going to the Preakness to win, but what I really wanted was him to run a good enough race to justify coming here and he did.”

Multiplier spent a couple of days at Churchill Downs with Walsh's assistant Tom Molloy following his final work at Keeneland last Saturday and arrived in New York Tuesday with Molloy and foreman/exercise rider Richelle Duhon. Walsh, who was Multiplier's regular morning rider throughout Preakness week, was reunited with his charge Thursday evening and climbed aboard the roan colt Friday morning for a spin around Big Sandy.

“He felt super. I couldn't be happier,” Walsh enthused. “He is getting over [the surface] really good. Seems like he likes it actually. My assistant said that about him too. He said he is really moving great and he hasn't been on him in a long time.”

Multiplier is from the first crop of MGISW sprinter The Factor and his dam Trippi Street's two wins came at six furlongs, but Walsh truly believes his pupil wants to go long.

“If you didn't show me his pedigree, I'd say he is crying out to go a mile and a half,” the horsemen insisted. “Obviously people have a doubt when they look at the pedigree, but down further in his pedigree he's got some stamina. His temperament says he will stay and his running style says he will stay. The first thing Joel [Rosario] said to me after the Preakness was, 'If you go to the Belmont, I'd really like to ride the horse again.'”

Adding blinkers for this test, Multiplier breaks alongside Meantime in post 10 and was also given a 15-1 chance on the morning-line.

“I had a good look at the race last night,” Walsh said. “There are a couple of horses that look like they are going to be right up there. It doesn't look like it will go super fast on the face of it. I think we will be closer than we were in the Preakness. The outside draw is a little new for him, but I don't think draw really makes a difference here.”

He added, “Looking at the track this morning, there is a massive run to the first turn and it is not an overly big field. I think everyone will get in where they are no deeper than three wide or you'd hope that anyway. Joel knows him now. I think that is important too. He is a tricky horse to get on the first time so I think that will be a big advantage as well.”

When asked what winning a Triple Crown race would mean to him, especially after just six years of training on his own, Walsh took a moment to let the idea sink in.

“It would mean everything,” the Cork County native offered. “It would be unreal. I don't think you would know what it is like until it actually happened. It would definitely be the highlight of my career, if not the highlight of my life.”