Renegade draws post 4, opens as Belmont Stakes favorite

Renegade landed in the kind of Belmont Stakes setup that can make a favorite look inevitable or exposed, depending on how the first quarter-mile unfolds. He drew post 4 in a field of nine and opened as the 2-1 morning-line choice for the $2 million classic at Saratoga Race Course, a draw that gave Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole a cleaner path than the one that frayed in Kentucky.

That Derby trip still hangs over the colt’s résumé. Renegade went to the post as one of the main betting interests in Louisville and finished a neck behind Golden Tempo after being forced to deal with trouble from the rail. This time, he sat in the middle of the gate, close enough to save ground without having to absorb the same kind of congestion that cost him in the first jewel of the Triple Crown. In a nine-horse Belmont, Repole has argued, the post matters less than it does in a 20-horse Derby, and the draw backed up that belief.

The shape of the race gave Renegade a real tactical edge, but not a free ride. Pletcher has won the Belmont four times, a record that matters in a race where the field is smaller, the pace picture is cleaner and positioning can decide everything before the field ever reaches the far turn. Renegade’s task was clear: avoid a repeat of the Derby traffic, stay within striking range and turn a rough spring introduction into a clean finish that validated the form.

Golden Tempo, the Kentucky Derby winner, drew post 9 and was listed at 9-2, leaving him to prove he could work out a trip from the outside after winning from a deeper closing spot in Louisville. Chief Wallabee drew post 3 and was the 3-1 second choice, adding another piece to a race that looked built around early choices and calculated moves rather than chaos. Renegade’s post 4 put him in the center of that chess match, where he could either dictate his own trip or get trapped between better-positioned rivals.

The Belmont ended up being more than a final classic for the 3-year-old division. If Renegade used the draw to reclaim the form that made him a Derby player, the result would sharpen the pecking order at the top of the crop and turn one troubled run into the springboard for a much bigger second half of the season.