DICK JERARDI, Daily News Staff Writer jerardd@phillynews.com Posted: Thursday, June 6, 2013, 1:08 AM

ON THE 40th anniversary of Secretariat's Belmont Stakes win, when the colt ran off 31 lengths in front of the field into an unknown realm, we wait in vain for the next Secretariat or Seattle Slew or Affirmed, the Triple Crown still elusive.

No Triple Crown is on the line in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, but we do get a rematch between the winner of the Kentucky Derby (Orb) and Preakness (Oxbow), as well as a terrific betting race, promised by a 14-horse field with much intrigue and more than a few question marks.

Orb finished 9 3/4 lengths in front of Oxbow in the Derby, 9 lengths behind him in the Preakness. Trying to decipher what those margins mean might be the critical component in determining Saturday's outcome. Or a horse that did not run in Louisville or Baltimore could change the equation entirely.

The horse could be Freedom Child, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, a partnership managed by Bucks County native Terry Finley.

When last seen in a race, Freedom Child was winning the Peter Pan Stakes by 13 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park. It was not Secretariat, but it was impressive.

"When you own horses, whether you're in partnerships or you're doing it yourself and you have a chance to run in a big race like this, it's really humbling and really super cool," Finley said. "These are the opportunities that really get us all out of bed in the morning. So as it relates to this colt, he's really given us a good vibe overall. He's a May 18th foal, and he's gotten really better and better in each start."

No horse has drawn more praise from the clockers who watch the horses in the morning than Freedom Child. So, West Point, which was formed in 1991 and named after the school where Finley earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1986, has its best chance at its first Triple Crown race win.

The West Point partners have won major races through the years. But these three races hold a special place in American sport that transcends horse racing.

Continued here:

Could interloper Freedom Child grab Belmont Stakes?