June 5 (UPI) -- The $1.5 million Grade I Belmont Stakes won't crown a Triple Crown champion, but it could well produce a lot of year-end honors and trophy hardware for the winner.
That would be all the more likely if Essential Quality emerges as the winner Saturday of the 1 1/2-mile tour around the huge Belmont Park track. The gray Tapit colt won his five starts, including the 2020 Breeder's Cup Juvenile and was named top U.S. male 2-year-old.
He suffered his first loss in the Kentucky Derby, finishing fourth but beaten just 1 length for it all. A return to the win column in the Belmont would put him firmly in charge of the 3-year-old division with the Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Del Mar looming as a year-end target.
Trainer Brad Cox decided right after the win streak was snapped in Louisville that Essential Quality wouldn't contest the Preakness Stakes two weeks later at Pimlico.
Belmont Stakes, Epsom Derby, French Derby on tap