Belmont Contender: Street Life

In the last four years, no horse has won the Belmont Stakes with odds lower than 12-1.
At odds of 15-1, Belmont hopeful Street Life is on the right side of the fence. The dark bay son of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense will be looking to shock the world by gutting an end to I'll Have Another's four race winning streak.

While the Chad Brown trainee has not flouted his talent with major stakes victories or a string of wins, he has certainly proven to have a good deal of heart and a nifty knack of last-to-first charges. At first, his resume is bland. When tallied with I'll Have Another's $2,693,600 sum of career earnings, Street Life's payroll of $114,405 seems less than spectacular. He has won two races out of 5 starts; I'll Have Another has gathered four victories out of 6 races. He has never raced past 1 1/8 miles; I'll Have Another has triumphed at 1 1/4.
But ultimately, it is the horse who wins the race -- not his previous achievements. The horse behind the race record of long shot Street Life is one worth a long, careful look.

As a 2 year old, Street Life was unraced. His career did not kick off until the 5th of January at Gulfstream Park. In a 6 furlong maiden special weight event (on the dirt), the son of Stone Hope loped home an uninspiring 8th in a field of 13 horses. He was given a month off, and shipped to Aqueduct for another maiden special weight on the inner dirt course -- this time at 1 mile & 70 yards. Street Life trailed the field until the foot of the stretch, where he was sent to task with light urging. The dark bay colt sailed through the field, losing no momentum in spite of a zigzagged ride with two changes of course. He put away the other colts with laughable ease, triumphing by 2 1/2 lengths. In third was fellow Belmont hopeful Five Sixteen.

Having wowed not until the onlookers, but trainer Chad Brown as well, Street Life was pointed to the
1 1/16 mile Broad Brush Stakes. He romped again, running down the leader from the back of the pack in spite of not switching leads. Although the race itself was in sluggish time (1:46.87) the final furlong was ran in a blistering 11 seconds and change.

Next up was Aqueduct's G1 Wood Memorial Stakes, contested at 1 1/8 miles. Street Life hugged back against the rail, trailing the field by a lengthy margin. At the half-mile pole he closed the gap, surging forward impressively before deflating in the stretch to a lackluster sixth. In spite of his bad placing, Street Life was rated with a Beyer Speed Figure of 86, equal to that of his last start. The final time was 1:50.96

Street Life's next start would come at Belmont Park, home of the prestigious Belmont Stakes. In the G2,
1 1/8 mile Peter Pan Stakes, Street Life trailed the field by his usual, yawning gap. Coming into the far turn, he was last by 5 lengths; it was about at the middle point of the turn that Jose Lezcano began to urge Street Life to make his move. The dark bay colt spun wide by five lengths, but lost none of his momentum. Street Life kicked powerfully down the center of the lane, flying to catch the two in front. In the final fractions of the race, it is easily visible that Street Life is moving much faster than the two in front. He was too late, however, and finished a narrow third behind Mark Valeski and Right To Vote -- defeated by less than 2 lengths. The final time was 1:48.31; with his third-place finish, Street Life garnered a Beyer figure of 93, the highest in his career.

Although the Belmont does not favor closers, it does celebrate horses with pedigrees of Street Life's style. His sire, Street Sense, remains the only horse to have won both the Breeder's Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby. His damsire, Grindstone, also won the Kentucky Derby; in addition, he is known as the sire of Belmont winner Birdstone, and the grandsire of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Street Sense's dosage index of 3 and dosage profile of 5-3-8-0-0 are solid supports that this colt should not mind the Belmont distance of 1 1/2 miles.

In workouts, too, Street Life has been phenomenal. On Sunday, he worked five furlongs in 1:01: the 9th fastest work of 44 at that distance.
"I was really happy with the move," said trainer Chad Brown, "He galloped out well and came back good, so it was just what I was looking for. I think this horse is bred to run all day, and he trains like he wants to run all day, so I'm excited to get him to that 1 1/2 mile distance and see what he does."

Needless to say, I'm excited too. Street Life has shown nothing but promise so far in his short career. Although his running style does not fit that of the typical Belmont winner, he has proven to like the track and has a solid, distance pedigree. If things go well on June 9th, Street Life might carry out his family's classic-winning tradition.