I will start by saying that 2020 is so screwed up I am glad they are running. I think with NY racing being closed for almost 3 months I think they were up against it. The Derby is now on Labor day which is 1-1/4. Usually with 20 horses running the first Saturday in May most trainers/ owners get a good look at their horses distance limitation well before the Belmont in one way or another. You hear all the rumors about what horse can run all day etc and the Derby finisher that comes closing at the end and sucks up for 3rd or 4th is always the Belmont " wise guy" horse, which is really just folklore. Last year it was Tacitus who ran well but horse continues to get over bet but never wins.
I think they cut the distance because many of the NY horses who did not run the wood memorial will be coming off a bit of a layoff. In addition with the order flipped of the triple crown it presents even more of a challenge. With 20 in the derby at 1.25 miles in May there is always 5-6 that won't get the distance and trainers can see this basically eliminating them from running the Belmont. Now another 6-7 will go onto the Preakness and won't run the Belmont. That always leave a quirky field for the Belmont as always which I love. The 1.5 mile dirt race is so rare these days, it's almost obsolete. I just love the race as is and Belmont being a 1.5 mile dirt track it's great that once a year they do run this race. It's tradition and I don't think they change it permanently by any means. I also think that they wanted to run the Belmont and maybe move the Travers up 3-4 weeks because of the timing of the derby.
All that said, the conspiracy theory out there is that Baffert was very clear that he would not run any of his 3-4 horses at the 1.5 mile Belmont distance this year because of the schedule that has been laid out. So many will say they catered to him as well, would not be the first time nor the last but who knows.
Funny think about the Belmont, it has become such a quirky race because of the distance other than the two triple crown winners over the past 10 years the winners haven't done a ton on the track after that.
It's no secret that distance of the Belmont is becoming more of an issue within the industry every year. Some will blame it on breeding practices, fragile horses, the 5 week triple crown schedule etc but who knows. Me personally I love the longer races dirt or turf.
2020 is what it is and every sport is making adjustments and horse racing is no exception. I have no issue with it but the Belmont stakes is a 1.5 mile race. This version will just be different
