If you curl up with the racing form tonight, you’ll be that much better prepared for the races on Saturday. Here’s what I’ll be thinking about as I obsessively search the past performances for the big overlooked score. For the shut-ins among you, unable to take the trip out to Belmont Park, the stakes are televised on ABC,which is airing coverage from 5:30 p.m. to 7 pm. ESPN has the whole undercard starting at noon.

1. PLATINUM COUPLE
TRAINER JOCKEY
Joseph Lostritto Jose Espinoza
LAST RACE ODDS
Preakness Stakes, 5/20 (6th) 30-1

Did nothing in the Preakness to prove that he belongs in this company. He’s a longshot, and should stay that way. You’ve got to admire the gamesmanship of sending him. His owner seems to think that it’s better to run than not, and that’s a good way to play the game. It doesn’t get you up into the money, however.

2. SUNRIVER
Todd Pletcher Rafael Bejarano
Peter Pan Stakes, 5/20 (1st) 4-1

I don’t like the layoff after the March 29 Florida Derby,but I certainly liked his Peter Pan victory around two turns at Belmont because winners of that race historically do well at Belmont.This race does not have strong early speed, and Sunriver should get the spot he likes, shadowing the pacesetters and getting ready for it. At a good price, he’s a good value. But not in the wet weather: He didn’t take to it at all in the February 4th Holy Bull , where he finished 9 1/4 lengths up the track in seventh.

3. HEMINGWAY’S KEY
Nick Zito Jeremy Rose
Preakness Stakes, 5/20 (3rd) 15-1

Weirder things have happened. Zito keeps saying that the horse runs good in the morning when he’s working out, and then can’t figure it out in the afternoon when he’s racing. His run to show in the Preakness was a step in the right direction. Needs another big step up to figure.

4. BOB AND JOHN
Bob Baffert Garrett Gomez
Kentucky Derby, 5/06 (17th) 5-1

Ran an absolutely atrocious race in the Derby. His last victory was a crawl through the slop at Aqueduct to win the Wood in April. Certainly one of the horses to watch tomorrow, but my feeling is that he’s not a fan of opposition. His wins more or less are set up for him. Still, you’ve to watch out for a trainer like Bob Baffert, and his jockey is the leading rider in the country.

5. HIGH FINANCE
Richard Violette, Jr. Elibar Coa
Allowance, 5/04 (1st) 12-1

It took him two races to figure it out and in his third start, March 4 at Gulfstream, he placed behind Bernardini, which, after Bernardini’s smashing win in Preakness looks like pretty strong accomplishment – there’s nothing wrong with losing to a horse like that. Then he blew them away going seven furlongs at Keeneland. Came up to Belmont, stretched out to a one-turn mile, and wired the race.

Does he have two turns? Probably not. Does he have to turns setting the pace? Probably not.A mile and a half is certainly going to surprise the horse – you can imagine him galloping out on the backstretch, ears perked, slowing down, thinking he’s won the race before they reach the second turn.

6. OH SO AWESOME
James A. Jerkins
Mike Smith Match the Hatch Stakes, 5/19 (3rd) 20-1

I find these European horses impossible to judge. I don’t like that he’s a turfer, but I do like his good finish under Mike Smith last out at Belmont over a sloppy track. I also like that he’s run in some long races, although it seems that he was throwing in the towel a furlong out. You don’t want to see a horse getting tired and fading over distance running even longer distances.

7. DEPUTY GLITTERS
Tom Albertrani Edgar Prado
Kentucky Derby, 5/06 (8th) 15-1

This horse would need a real improvement to win the Belmont Stakes. The Tampa Bay Derby, his only victory as a 3-year-old, was not exactly the toughest show of the year, and he’d been beaten by Bluegrass Cat just before that before turning the tables. He ran a clunker in the Wood, and another at the Derby. Albertrani seems to think the horse is back and ready to go. I’m willing to give the trainer the benefit of the doubt, if the odds stay long,and add the horse to some exotic bets,but I wouldn’t put my money on his nose.

8. JAZIL
Kiaran McLaughlin Fernando Jara
Kentucky Derby, 5/06 (4th) 10-1

This horse is coming off of two reasonable, true to form races in a row. He dropped to the back in the Wood, 20 lengths off the lead at one point, then closed fast – passing dead horses – to get the place. He got up into the superfecta in the Derby, but he wasn’t exactly tearing it up. McLaughlin says they’re going to urge him into the mix a little sooner. It’s a questionable change, I think, getting him all mixed up in traffic in the only race in the country perfectly suited to his style.

He’ll be in the money either way, if they can only motivate him to trail the leader by 12 lengths, instead of his customary zillion.They’ll set him up to repeat the Allowance race he ran on February 2 at Gulfstream when he had a shot but got outfinished by Corinthian on the stretch.

9. BLUEGRASS CAT
Todd Pletcher John Velazquez
Kentucky Derby, 5/06 (2nd) 3-1

The return of Johnny Velazquez for this mount should be huge – which isn’t to say that Dominguez did a bad job filling in for the injured jock in Kentucky, where the horse ran a great race to place behind Barbaro, but just that the gods seem to smile on Velazquez on a Pletcher horse. Bluegrass Cat has the pedigree to do this. Against him is the specificity of good races in the Derby and at Keeneland, too idiosyncratic to tell us anything here. I don’t like that he couldn’t gain on Deputy Glitters in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 18, either. At a short price, it’s a gamble, and who wants to gamble for short money in a race this open?

10. DOUBLE GALORE
Myung Kwon Cho Mike Luzzi
Maiden Special Weight, 5/19 (1st) 30-1

This horse tried five times out at Hollywood Park and finally won his first race on May 19 in a $46,000 Maiden Special Weight. Five times out, half a length worth off victory. How that qualifies you as a Belmont Stakes runner, I have no idea.

11. STEPPENWOLFER

Daniel Peitz Robby Albarado
Kentucky Derby, 5/06 (3rd) 9-2

I believe it’s time for a magic carpet ride. Steppenwolfer made a good show in Kentucky after a crappy trip. He had run a clutch of good races before that, chasing Lawyer Ron around in Arkansas. He’s only been out of the money once, in his first race and this is his distance. He’ll be in the right spot for it. Not to belabor my point, but Heavy Metal Thunder, yes indeed.

12. SACRED LIGHT
David Hoffmans Victor Espinoza
Allowance, 5/06 (2nd) 15-1

Had the unfortunate luck of trying to run in California’s top stakes this year, and those were all about Brother Derek. Before that, he was getting beaten by Bob and John. Hoffmans did the right thing and dropped him down a level so he could compete in a strong money Allowance race, and he got up to place. How that translates into punching your ticket for the Belmont Stakes, I have no idea.

Getting There

There’s a lot of grass out there at the 450 acre Belmont Park, lots of trees, and happy racing fans eating picnics. They’ve enacted alcohol restrictions this year: You can still bring a cooler, all the sandwiches and iced tea (no glass bottles) you want, but you’ll have to buy your beer from the stands at the track.

General Admission is $5 and includes access to Backyard Picnic Area, Trackside Apron area, and three interior levels of the grandstand. Clubhouse Admission is $10 and includes access to Trackside Apron area and three interior levels.

The gates open at 8:30 a.m. and the first race is at noon. The undercard has some excellent racing, too, with 13 races through the day. Trains run all day direct to Belmont. For information on Long Island Rail Road go to http://www.mta.info/lirr/ or call (718) 217-LIRR.

If you’re driving from Manhattan: Queens Midtown Tunnel to Long Island Expressway, East to Cross Island Parkway, South to Exit 26-D.

from Brooklyn: Belt Parkway, East to Cross Island Parkway, North to Exit 26-D, or Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to Long Island Expressway, East to Cross Island Parkway, South to Exit 26-D.

from Queens: Grand Central Parkway, East to Cross Island Parkway, South to Exit 26-D OR Belt Parkway, East to Cross Island Parkway, North to Exit 26-D.

From Staten Island: Verrazano Bridge to Belt Pkwy., East to Cross Island Pkwy., North to Exit 26-D.