The bad news came last week that Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist won’t be able to compete in the Preakness Stakes. He spiked a fever after the Preakness and has been diagnosed with a high white blood cell count. The good news is that Doug O’Neill’s impressive horse should be back in the pink to run in the Travers Stakes or other lucrative late Summer races.

The loss of Nyquist also has deprived the Belmont Stakes of the only legitimate speed horse in the field. This could be a problem for a field full of closers including Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator. He’ll be a big favorite over the rest of the Belmont field based on his Preakness win and overall ability. Most of his challengers will be ‘also rans’ from the previous two Triple Crown races.

His task will be made more difficult, however, by the absence of any real speed horses to set a pace. A closer needs a pace setter to be most effective. We saw that in the Preakness Stakes. The race really fell into Exaggerator’s lap when Nyquist and Uncle Lino zoomed out of the starting gate to set the fastest first quarter in race history. Reality set in for both horses around the three quarter pole. First Uncle Lino and then Nyquist faded badly which gave Exaggerator the opportunity he needed to claim the win.

Two Todd Pletcher trained horses could set enough of a pace to give Exaggerator and the rest of the field something to work with. One is Tampa Bay Derby winner Stradivari who is being considered for the race. He was smart enough to stay off the pace in the Preakness but could take the lead in the Belmont simply because none of the other horses in the field want it. Stablemate Destin could also be involved–he showed some decent speed in winning the Tampa Bay Derby though the level of horses in that field was way below this one.

The other significant question: Would Todd Pletcher want these horses to set the pace? There might be a better tactical approach in a field full of strong closers.