We the People highlights core of contenders in Belmont

And they’re off … right around 6:44 p.m. Saturday, eight horses breaking from the starting gates for the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes.

In the morning line odds, seven were looking up at We the People, the 2-1 favorite. But there are several possible contenders to ace the  1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion.”

“I think there are three or four in there with legitimate chances,” said Kenny McPeek, the trainer for Creative Minister, who’s one of them after placing third in the Preakness and drawing the No. 5 post for the Belmont. “It’s a rider’s race and a lot can happen. You can have riders move too soon or too late. It’s quite unpredictable.

“Look, the horse that can grind out the mile and a half is going to be the one that gets this done. I think it’s fair to say the best horse usually wins this race.”

The second choice in the morning line for this race, which will be televised by NBC, was Mo Donegal at 5-2. Rich Strike, the 80-1 wonder who won the 20-horse Kentucky Derby, was third at 7-2. Then there was Creative Minister at 6-1.

“The favorite has the lone speed, and he’s going to have things his way, and somebody’s going to have to challenge him at some point,” said Eric Reed, the trainer for Rich Strike. “I think there will be two or three of us all running kind of in a pack, and hopefully we can get to him at the head of the lane.

“It might be a great horse race down the stretch.”

We the People drew the No. 1 post. This horse, with Flavien Prat riding, won at Belmont on May 14, taking the nine-furlong, Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes by an impressive 10 1/4 lengths. That came after an unimpressive seventh-place showing from the No. 9 post in the nine-horse, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.

“We thought we were good with the draw and it ended up being the worst draw you can have,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “Flavien did what he had to do. He took him back, and the horse just got lost.”

Mo Donegal won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9. He beat Early Voting, the eventual Preakness winner, who’s skipping this third jewel of the Triple Crown. Then Mo Donegal finished fifth at the Kentucky Derby. He drew the No. 6 post for the Belmont.

So can he sit close before making a run?

“I think he can and I think he will need to do that,” his trainer, Todd Pletcher, said.

Rich Strike will run from the No. 4 gate. Sonny Leon won’t have to pass 16 horses from the final turn like the jockey did in his wild ride to the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history.

“If we can get a pretty clean race and get our guy in position … we’ll have a real shot,” owner Rick Dawson said.

The field also includes Barber Road (10-1), Skippylongstocking (20-1) and Golden Glider (20-1), as well as the intriguing filly Nest. She was made 8-1 and received the No. 3 post.

Nest, a Pletcher horse who was sired by Curlin, will try to become the fourth filly to finish first in the Belmont. Pletcher had the last one, Rags to Riches, who edged Curlin by a head in 2007.

The concept of winning again, this time with Curlin’s daughter, hasn’t been lost on her Hall of Fame trainer.

“It’s crossed my mind,” Pletcher said, “yeah.”