NBC Sports’ Kenny Rice on Covering an Unprecedented Belmont Stakes

Racing
NBC Sports’ Kenny Rice, pictured at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2018, will be one of the few media personnel on-site at Belmont Park for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Although Kentucky native Kenny Rice has a wealth of experience covering horse racing, nothing has quite prepared him for the 152nd edition of the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice will be one of only three NBC on-air talents allowed to be on site at Belmont Park during a broadcast that will extend from 2:45-6 p.m. ET. The Belmont will serve as the opening leg of the Triple Crown this year, to be followed by the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes.

In addition, the race has been shortened from its usual mile-and-a-half distance to a one-turn mile and an eighth. If all of that change was not enough, the contest will be run without spectators out of an abundance of caution as New York slowly reopens after being the epicenter for COVID-19.

Rice discussed a Belmont that will be like no other during a question-and-answer session with Tom Pedulla for America’s Best Racing:


PEDULLA: How different will this broadcast be?

RICE: Well, we’re not all going to be together is the biggest thing. Britney Eurton and Larry Collmus and I will be on location. Mike Tirico and Randy Moss will be at the studio in Stamford (Conn.). Eddie Olczyk will be at his house in Chicago. Jerry Bailey will be at his house in South Florida. And somehow (coordinating producer) Rob Hyland will magically make it all come together.

PEDULLA: Can the Belmont Stakes be interesting and exciting without fans?

RICE: I think the interest is going to be that you are going to see the best 3-year-old in the country and that is Tiz the Law. He held up well throughout the winter campaign and is clearly the horse to beat in this. It will be different. Obviously, you aren’t going to hear the roar of the crowd when they are turning for home or when they first come out on the track. But you are going to watch a race with some pretty good 3-year-olds in it.

PEDULLA: Is the one-turn mile and an eighth a completely different ballgame from a mile and a half?

RICE: Oh, completely different. But, in all honesty, I don’t know what kind of field they would have had for a mile-and-a-half race, given all that has happened this year. To have it at a mile and an eighth makes sense.

PEDULLA: Todd Pletcher is bidding for his fourth Belmont victory. How do you rate his two starters?

RICE: In a year in which we’ve had so much attrition with the stars, Dr Post is certainly a legitimate horse in this field. Farmington Road would have benefitted from a longer distance more than Dr Post. I think at a mile and a half, he probably would have liked that better.

PEDULLA: What about Steve Asmussen’s duo?

RICE: I think they are both interesting. You wouldn’t think of them as Triple Crown horses in the winter and early spring, but they kind of fit into the picture there. Pneumatic, to me, might be the one he thinks has the best shot at winning at this distance.

PEDULLA: Can Tap It to Win possibly steal this race on the front end?

RICE: The upset winner would be Tap It to Win. He likes that track. He was disappointing last year, but he’s really come on this year.

PEDULLA: Are you surprised to see trainer Patrick Biancone bring back Sole Volante so quickly after he won a June 10 allowance race at Gulfstream Park?

RICE: I was surprised he was in that allowance race. Patrick is certainly not what you would call conventional and he’s had success all over the world in his career. 

PEDULLA: What does it say about racing that a modest operation such as Sackatoga Stable, which had Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide in 2003, can be back in a Triple Crown race with Tiz the Law?

RICE: That is the appeal of racing for everybody out there. It is the Sport of Kings, but there can be regular guys who can still stay on the scene. That gives hope to everybody out there. Maybe I can get a couple of guys together and have a Funny Cide or a Tiz the Law.

PEDULLA: Who is a live longshot?

RICE: Tap It to Win, if you want one longshot, would be my first choice. Dr Post would be my second choice.

PEDULLA: Can Tiz the Law be beaten?

RICE: He should win this race. We’ve seen longshots, we’ve seen big longshots, come in here. When you look at what he’s done and how he’s handled everything all year long to get ready for this, there’s not been anything wrong.

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