And the Belmont Winner Is...

Even though the Belmont Stakes is the longest of the Triple Crown races, it is rarely won by a horse coming from the clouds. The last Belmont winner to do so was Lemon Drop Kid 10 years ago, and he still reached the leaders by the top of the stretch.

Lemon Drop Kid, by the way, was the name of one of Bob Hope's most famous films. Hope played the title character, who was a lovable race-track tout and had a habit of popping lemon drops whenever he got nervous.

I bring up Lemon Drop Kid because his son, Charitable Man, is my choice to win this year's Belmont. The shape of the race makes it easy to tab Charitable Man. He's the only quality horse in the field who has enough early speed to stay close to the pace. Add the fact that his trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, is very, very confident the horse is ready for a giant race.

Most of the other so-called contenders all like to come from behind: Chocolate Candy, Mine That Bird, Dunkirk, and Summer Bird. Of those four I think Chocolate Candy has the best chance to upset Chaitable Man. Chocolate Candy ran a huge race against the grain to be second in the Santa Anita Derby. He followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby despit getting bumped early and racing wide when the rail was the place to be. Instead of trying the Preakness, his trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, brought him to Belmont where he's been training smoothly the past five weeks.

Mine That Bird is a likely candidate for the third spot, but my trifecta ticket will also have Miner's Escape and Summer Bird on it in the third position. Miner's Escape is the likely front runner. Trained by Nick Zito, who pulled off last year's 55-1 front-running surprise Da Tara, Miner's escape is capable of hitting the board after his recent, rapid improvement.

Summer Bird ran sixth in the Derby, although he had several excuses. He's got the look of a horse who can hit the board at a much more generous price than Dunkirk, who was 4-1 in the Derby and never ran a step after getting banged around early.

So here's my Superfecta ticket:

Using for first: Charitable Man

Using second: Chocolate Candy, Miner's Escape, Mine That Bird.

Using third: previous three plus Summer Bird and Dunkirk

Using fourth: all but Luv Gov.

for more: go to www.Podolsky'spicks.com.