He barely made the Kentucky Derby. Now, he’s a major threat in the Belmont

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Baeza is a contender to win the Belmont Stakes after finishing third in Kentucky Derby.

Baeza is a half-brother to last year’s Belmont Stakes winner, Dornoch.

Trainer John Shirreffs has never won the Belmont Stakes before.

Baeza has gone from a horse that barely made the Kentucky Derby starting gate to one of the trendy choices to win Saturday night’s 157th running of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes.

The John Shirreffs trainee was an also-eligible entrant for the 2025 Derby, before drawing into the field after Bob Baffert’s Rodriguez scratched from the race.

Baeza made good on his opportunity, scoring a late-running third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby slop behind runner-up Journalism and champ