Belmont Stakes

The roster of 3-year-old Thoroughbreds nominated to compete in the classic races of the American Triple Crown has grown by one with the addition of Charles J Cella’s Cyber Secret, who was omitted from the initial roster of 397 early nominations because of a clerical error.

This year’s 398^th nominee is a Kentucky-bred son of Broken Vow trained by Lynn Whiting, who scored his only victory in a Triple Crown race with W.C. Partee’s Lil E. Tee in the 1992 Kentucky Derby (Grade I).  Cyber Secret collected his second win in four career starts in a 5 ¼-length victory in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 4.  He started his career with trainer Chad Brown, but was transferred to Whiting when the colt was purchased privately by Cella after a seventh-place run behind WinStar Farm’s unbeaten Triple Crown nominee Gemologist in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (GII) on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs.

Officials at Churchill Downs said information on Cyber Secret was not added to the list of early nominees after a Triple Crown representative took the nomination at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. prior to the close of the early nominations for the three-race series.  Stewards at the Louisville track approved the addition of the colt’s name to the list of early nominees, which was released to the public on Saturday, Feb. 4.

This year’s early nomination period, during which each nomination was accompanied by a $600 fee, closed on Saturday, Jan. 21. A late period for nominations – which requires each nomination to be accompanied by a $6,000 fee – will conclude on Saturday, March 24.

The 2012 Triple Crown series begins on Saturday, May 5 with the $2 million-guaranteed 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.  The second jewel of the Triple Crown is the 137^th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI), which will be run on Saturday, May 19, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.  The American classic series concludes with the 144^th running of the Belmont Stakes (GI) on Saturday, June 9 at New York’s Belmont Park.

All three Triple Crown races will be televised by NBC Sports and are scheduled to be broadcast on radio by the Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN).

The new early nomination total for the 2012 Triple Crown races is a 9.3 percent increase over the 364 early nominees for the three-race classic series a year ago.  The roster of 2012 early Triple Crown nominees is the largest since 2009, when 412 3-year-olds were made eligible during the early period.

Brisnet is providing free online past performances of all the 2012 Triple Crown nominees in PDF format at http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/TC12noms.pdf.                                 

Champion 2-year-old Hansen and Union Rags, separated by a head in a thrilling 1-2 finish in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I), and unbeaten Algorithms, who stepped into the spotlight with a five-length win over the champion in the Holy Bull (GIII) at Gulfstream Park, top a large roster of 397 horses made eligible during the early nomination phase to compete in the three classic races that make up American horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown.

The first race in the series of classic races for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – the $2 million-guaranteed 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) – is set for Saturday, May 5, at world-famous Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.   The second jewel of the Triple Crown is the 137^th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI), which will be run on Saturday, May 19, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.  The American classic series concludes with the 144^th running of the Belmont Stakes (GI) on Saturday, June 11 at New York’s Belmont Park.

All three Triple Crown races will be televised by NBC Sports and are scheduled to be broadcast on radio by the Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN).

The nomination total for the 2012 Triple Crown races is a 9.1 percent increase over the 364 early nominees for the three-race classic series a year ago.  The roster of 2012 early Triple Crown nominees is the largest since 2009, when 412 3-year-olds were made eligible during the early period.  This year’s early nomination period, during which each nomination was accompanied by a $600 fee, closed on Saturday, Jan. 21. A late period for nominations – during which each nomination must be accompanied by a $6,000 fee – will conclude on Saturday, March 24.

Hansen, owned by Dr. Kendall Hansen and the Sky Chai Racing partnership, completed a perfect three-race campaign with his narrow front-running victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.  Along with a 13 ¼-length victory in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile over synthetic Polytrack at Turfway Park, that victory earned Hansen the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old of 2011.  Maker’s colt suffered the first setback of his young career in his runner-up finish in the one-mile Holy Bull on Jan. 29, his first start of his 3-year-old season.

Union Rags, a son of Dixie Union owned by Chadds Ford Stable, suffered his only setback in four races in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.  The bay son of Dixie Union is trained by Michael Matz, who saddled Barbaro to win the 2006 Kentucky Derby, and scored stakes wins in the Champagne (GI) and the Saratoga Special (GII).

Algorithms, owned the Starlight Racing partnership headed by managing partner Jack Wolf, burst onto the road to the Triple Crown with an impressive five-length victory over Hansen in the Holy Bull.  That race was the debut in stakes competition for the Todd Pletcher-trained son of 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini and his third in as many starts.  He has won his three races, including a maiden victory last June at Belmont Park and a pair of wins this year at Gulfstream Park.

Other winners of major stakes races on the list of early Triple Crown nominees include CashCall Futurity (GI) winner Liaison; Creative Cause, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and winner of the Norfolk (GI) and Best Pal (GII); Hopeful (GI) winner Currency Swap; Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (GI) winner Dullahan; unbeaten Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) winner Gemologist; and Delta Jackpot (GIII) winner Sabercat.

Brisnet is providing free online past performances of all the 2012 Triple Crown nominees in PDF format at http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/TC12noms.pdf.

Of this year’s 397 nominations, 344 are colts and there are 37 geldings.  The list also includes 10 ridglings.

Horses bred in Kentucky again dominated the roster of Triple Crown nominees.  Of the 297 nominees, 303 were born in Kentucky.  Florida was next with 27 horses, followed by New York with 13 and California with 12.  Fourteen of the nominees were produced outside of the United States, a number that includes six horses bred in Ireland.

The list of nominees includes six fillies, and that group is headed by Anita Cauley’s On Fire Baby, winner of the Golden Rod (GII).  She ran third to Triple Crown nominee Junebugred when she faced males in Oaklawn Park’s Smarty Jones on Jan. 16.

Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables LLC leads all owners with 13 nominees to the 2012 Triple Crown.  Robert LaPenta is next with 10 and Klaravich Stables Inc. has nine nominees, either on its own or in partnerships.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who scored his first Kentucky Derby victory with Super Saver in 2010, led trainers for the third consecutive year with 32 Triple Crown nominees.  Pletcher was tied at 20 atop last year’s list with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who ranks second 21 nominated horses.  Steve Asmussen and Nick Zito are next with 15 nominees, and Dale Romans nominated 14.

There is a tie atop the roster of leading Triple Crown sires between two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) winner Tiznow and Unbridled’s Song, each with 12 Triple Crown nominees.  Malibu Moon and Street Sense, the winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby whose first crop of foals are 3-year-olds, share the next spot with 11 nominees.   War Front sired 10, with Hard Spun and Smart Strike next with nine.

The Kentucky Derby field has been limited to 20 starters since 1975, and accumulated earnings in prestigious graded stakes races along the “Road to the Triple Crown” have determined the field for the 1 ¼-mile classic since 1986.  The field for the Preakness, the 1 3/16-mile second jewel of the Triple Crown, is limited to 14 starters, while Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion” and finale of the series at 1 ½ miles, permits a maximum field of 16 horses.

A Triple Crown sweep – one of the most difficult feats in all of sports – has been accomplished on just 11 occasions: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1942), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Fifty other horses have finished one win shy of the honor.

The 2011 Triple Crown races yielded three different winning horses and the connections of each of the winners experienced their first victories in the coveted series.

Animal Kingdom, owned and bred by the Team Valor partnership headed by Barry Irwin, scored an emphatic victory in the Kentucky Derby to kick-off the 2011 Triple Crown.  The winner was trained by H. Graham Motion and was ridden by jockey John Velazquez, who picked up his winning mount the day before the race. Mike Lauffer and W.D. Cubbedge’s Shackleford, fourth in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Dale Romans, held off the surging Animal Kingdom by a half-length at Pimlico to win the Preakness under jockey Jesus Castanon. The Belmont Stakes went to George and Lori Hall’s Ruler On Ice, a late nominee to the Triple Crown who had been excluded from the Kentucky Derby field because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes races.   The son of Roman Ruler won by a half-length under jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. and provided trainer Kelly Breen with his first success in a Triple Crown race.

The current 33-year streak without a Triple Crown winner is the longest in the history of the series.  The previous record was a 25-year gap between the Triple Crown earned by Citation in 1948 and Secretariat’s stunning sweep in 1973.

For a complete list of horses nominated to the Kentucky Derby and 2012 Triple Crown, click here.

For a look at leading trainers,  owners and breeders of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown nominees and other statistical categories, click here.

CHURCHILL TRAINERS LIKE 1-2 DERBY RUNNERS IN THE BELMONT – Trainers based at historic Churchill Downs have had the opportunity to see many of the contenders for the 143^rd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI) up close and personal.

The top seven finishers in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) will run in Saturday’s Belmont; three of which are based at Churchill Downs: Zayat Stables LLC’s Nehro (second), Michael Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge’s Shackleford (fourth) and Tom Walters’ Santiva (sixth).  Also based at Churchill Downs is Donald Adam’s Prime Cut, third in the recent Peter Pan (GII) at Belmont Park.

After following the Triple Crown races and observing many of the Belmont contenders condition beneath the Twin Spires, many trainers on the Louisville track’s backstretch have made up their minds as to who will win the third jewel of the Triple Crown and the majority are thinking Animal Kingdom or Nehro.

“Animal Kingdom will win the Belmont,” trainer Paul McGee said. “I picked him in the Derby and the Preakness (GI) and I’m going to stick with him.”

Trainer Steve Margolis, who collected his 100^th win beneath the Twin Spires earlier in the meet, likes Animal Kingdom as well. “I’ll be rooting for Graham (Motion) and Animal Kingdom and I think he’ll win,” Margolis said. “But I also like Master of Hounds as a longshot possibility.”

“It’ll be a good race, but I don’t think anyone will beat Animal Kingdom,” trainer Scooter Dickey said.

Trainer Jimmy Baker, who has won with four of his 14 starters this meet, believes one of the favorites will cross the line first in the Belmont. “I like the favorites in the race,” Baker said. “Nehro will be fresh, Shackleford will be the pace and may hold on, and Animal Kingdom will be running at the end. One of those will win it.”

"How can you not like Animal Kingdom?,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who is currently tied with Dale Romans for second in the trainer standings with nine wins at the meet.

Trainer David Carroll is also in Animal Kingdom’s corner. “Animal Kingdom will win tomorrow (Saturday),” Carroll said.                                   

The other Belmont contender who has a lot of support on the Churchill Downs backstretch is Nehro.

“I like Shackleford and Animal Kingdom, but Nehro will be fresh and I think he’ll win,” trainer Bret Calhoun said.

Garry Simms, who has won with three of his ten starters this meet, also picked Nehro. “I hope Shackleford wins, but I’m going with (Steve) Asmussen’s horse (Nehro),” Simms said.

"I like Nehro and I think he’ll like the distance (1 ½-miles),” trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi said.

Trainer Dallas Stewart was one of the few trainers to not select Animal Kingdom, Shackleford, or Nehro. “I think a longshot is going to win,” Stewart said. “I just don’t know which one.”

Tom McCarthy, who will saddle General Quarters in Friday’s featured ninth race, was unsure of who will win Saturday.

“Anyone’s guess is as good as mine,” McCarthy said. “It’ll be a good race and we’ll just have to wait and see.”

CAPT. CANDYMAN CAN INJURED, PROBABLY OUT FOR THE YEAR – Rosemary A. Rauch and David Zell’s Capt. Candyman Can is expected to miss most or all of the remainder of the 2011 racing season after apparently suffering an injury during his third-place run behind Noble’s Promise in last week’s $100,000-added Aristides (GIII) at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Ian Wilkes said he’s not “100 percent” sure of the exact nature of the problem that has sent the 5-year-old gelded son of Candy Ride to the sidelines.  But Wilkes suspects that Capt. Candyman Can fractured his humerus bone in his left shoulder.  Capt. Candyman Can is due for a bone scan in a few days that should identify the exact injury.

Wilkes said the injury would knock Capt. Candyman Can out of training for “at least 90 days.”

The winner of the Grade I King’s Bishop at three, Capt. Candyman Can missed all of 2010 with a knee issue.  The Aristides was the fourth start of a 2011 campaign for Capt. Candyman Can that Wilkes had hoped would reach its climax in November in the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Churchill Downs.  He won his first two starts of the year and finished a close fourth to Aikenite in the Churchill Downs (GII) on Kentucky Derby Day prior to his run in the Aristides.

Wilkes believes the injury could have occurred at the start of the Aristides.  Capt. Candyman Can got away from the starting gate slowly after a slow loading process for the field of eight when one of its members was reluctant to enter the gate.

“It’s possible it happened at the start – he did stumble there, too,” Wilkes said.  “He didn’t finish the way he should – the way he normally does.  I have no doubt that he would have won the race if he was right.”

Capt. Candyman Can is stabled at Skylight Training Center, which is located about 30 minutes from Churchill Downs.  He is scheduled for rest on a farm after the bone scan is completed on Wilkes’ stable star.

Capt. Candyman Can has a career record of 8-2-2 in 16 races with earnings of $760,147.

STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP PROBABLES NEAR FINAL WORKS AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – A pair of probable starters for the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap Presented by Abu Dhabi (GI) on June 18 at Churchill Downs will soon be putting in their final pre-race workouts at the historic track.

The Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Clark Handicap (GI) winner Giant Oak is scheduled to tune-up for his Stephen Foster run on Sunday at Churchill Downs with a 6:30 a.m. (all times Eastern) workout for Chris Block. The 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway captured the Donn Handicap (GI) at Gulfstream Park earlier this year prior to a fifth-place finish in the Alysheba Presented by Besilu Stables (GIII) on Kentucky Oaks Day.

Twin Creeks Racing Stable, LLC’s Mission Impazible, who won the New Orleans Handicap (GII) at Fair Grounds prior to a seventh-place finish in the Alysheba (GIII), will have his final workout prior to the Stephen Foster on Sunday at Churchill Downs, according to Todd Pletcher’s assistant trainer, Mike McCarthy.  Mission Impazilbe finished tenth behind Super Saver in the 2010 Kentucky Derby.

Other horses known to be under consideration for the Stephen Foster (with trainers) include Apart (Al Stall Jr.), Crown of Thorns (Richard Mandella), Duke of Mischief (David Fawkes), First Dude (Bob Baffert) and Regal Ransom (Saeed bin Suroor).

Weights for the 30^th running of the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) will be released Saturday.

KATHMANBLU WILL LEAD MCPEEK DUO IN REGRET – Five D Thoroughbreds and Wind River Stables’ multiple graded stakes winning filly Kathmanblu will return from a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) to run in the 42^nd running of the $125,000-added Regret Presented by ETIHAD Airways (GIII) at 1 1/8-miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 18.

Kathmanblu’s stablemate in the Ken McPeek barn, Catesby Clay’s Bizzy Caroline, a 3-year-old daughter of Afleet Alex who sprinted away to a seven-length victory in an allowance race at Churchill Downs on May 27, is also being pointed toward a start in the Regret.

Kathmanblu will be making her fifth start of the year in the Regret, but it will be her first on the turf since a victory in the Sweetest Chant at Gulfstream Park in January. McPeek’s assistant trainer, Philip Bauer, said he hopes Kathmanblu will appreciate a return to the turf and get back on the winning track.

“She’s been doing really well since the (Kentucky) Oaks and I think that turf is her best surface,” Bauer said. “On paper it looks like she will be tough to beat.”

The 3-year-old daughter of Bluegrass Cat has a record of 3-1-1 from five starts over the turf, including two stakes wins and a third behind More Than Real and Winter Memories in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (GII) at Churchill Downs last November.

Other horses under consideration to compete in the Regret (with trainers) include Bouquet Booth (Steve Margolis), Diva Ash (Dale Romans) and Excited (Todd Pletcher).

NEHRO WORKMATE PROBABLE FOR MATT WINN – George Bolton, Stonestreet Stables, LLC and Spendthrift Farm, LLC’s Dominus, who finished second behind Machen in The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII) in his most recent start, is being pointed towards a start in the 14^th running of the $125,000-added Matt Winn on June 18 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

  Dominus, a 3-year-old ridgling by Smart Strike out of the Lord At War-ARG mare Cuando, worked in company with Belmont Stakes (GI) starter Nehro on May 30 at Churchill Downs. The stablemates completed the six furlong work together in 1:12.20, which was the fastest of four, six furlong workers that morning.

Other horses known to be under consideration for the Matt Winn and their trainers include Alstom (Wayne Lukas), Bind (Al Stall Jr.), Infrattini (Paul McGee), and Uncle Brent (Lynn Whiting).

RUNNER-UP IN AMERICAN TURF POSSIBLE FOR JEFFERSON CUP RUN - William S. Farish and Skara Glen Stables’ Close Ally, runner-up to Banned in the American Turf Presented by Ram (GII)  on Kentucky Oaks Day and the  Lone Star Derby (GIII) on Memorial Day, worked three furlongs in :37.60 on a fast main track at Churchill Downs on Friday morning for trainer Neil Howard.

The 3-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway is a possible starter for the 36^th running of the $100,000-added Jefferson Cup (GIII) at 1 1/16-miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 18 Stephen Foster Day undercard.

Howard is also considering running Courtlandt Farms’ Perregaux in the Jefferson Cup. The 3-year-old son of Distorted Humor finished second beaten a half-length to Ronin Dax on May 27 in a one-mile allowance over the Matt Winn Turf Course in his most recent start, which served as his 2011 debut.

"I’m considering both of them (Close Ally and Perregaux) for the Jefferson Cup,” Howard said. “Only one is likely to start; however, I’m not sure which one that will be just yet. Robby Albarado will have the mount regardless of which one runs.”

Other horses known to be under consideration for the Jefferson Cup and their trainers include Banned (Tom Proctor), Derby Kitten (Mike Maker), Redboard (Garry Simms) and Swagger Jack (Darrin Miller).

BARN TALK – Stoneway Farm’s Exfactor gave trainer Bernie Flint his fourth 2-year-old win of the meet in the fifth race at Churchill Downs on Thursday. Cathy and Bob Zollars’ Daddy Nose Best was second and Donegal Racing’s Dullahan, a half-brother to 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) winner Mine That Bird, finished third.

Right Time Racing LLC’s Street Storm, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) in her most recent start, is being pointed to the Iowa Oaks (GIII) at Prairie Meadows on June 25, according to trainer Steve Margolis.

Nominations for the 111^th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs close Saturday. The Debutante, which is scheduled to be run on the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 25, was won last year by Eldon Farm Equine, LLC’s Just Louise under Robby Albarado for trainer Dale Romans. …

Churchill Downs will offer advance wagering all day Friday beginning at 11:20 a.m. for the 143^rd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes to be run Saturday. A unique wager offered Friday by the New York Racing Association is the Brooklyn/Belmont double that links Belmont Park's two 1 1/2-mile marathon stakes events: Friday's Grade II, $150,000 Brooklyn Handicap for older horses and Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. …

Belmont Park's 13-race Belmont Stakes program will begin at 11:35 a.m. EDT, and will feature $1 million guaranteed pools for an all graded stakes Pick 6 (Races 6-11 starting at 2:34 p.m.) and Pick 4 (Races 8-11 starting at 3:59 p.m.). The 1 1/2-mile Belmont -- the third and final leg of the Triple Crown -- is scheduled as Belmont Park's Race 11 at approximately 6:36 p.m. The on-track simulcast of the Belmont will follow Race 11 and the racing will be prominently shown on television monitors throughout the facility, including the infield and paddock JumboTrons. ...

There will be a drawing ton win three Early Times prints by Marita Walizer on Saturday. Patrons may register for the drawing prior to 2 p.m. near Gate 17. Also, there will be an Early Times mascot race on the Matt Winn Turf Course following Saturday’s fourth race. …

The official drink of the Belmont Stakes, the Belmont Jewel (1.5 oz Woodford Reserve, 2 oz lemonade, 1 oz pomegranate juice), will be sold throughout the facility on Saturday.

Saturday’s Junior Jockey Club events for the kiddos include foam fun and a puppet show at 2:15 p.m.

WORKTAB – Courtlandt Farms’ Machen, winner of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII) at Churchill Downs in his most recent start, also worked for Howard beneath the Twin Spires on Friday morning. The 3-year-old son of Distorted Humor completed the four furlong breeze in :51.40. …

Briland Farm’s Absinthe Minded, who finished second by a head to Awesome Maria in the Shuvee Handicap (GII) at Belmont Park in her most recent start, worked four furlongs in :48.00 Friday morning for trainer Wayne Lukas.  …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (May 30- June 9) are Corey Lanerie (8-for-29), Julien Leparoux (7-for-26) and Calvin Borel (6-for-26). Bernie Flint (3-for-5), Ian Wilkes (3-for-10), Steve Asmussen (3-for-12) and Ken McPeek (3-for-13) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Stoneway Farm (3-for-3), Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (2-for-2), and Charles E. Fipke (2-for-5).

WEATHER – Friday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of isolated thunderstorms, 93. Saturday: partly sunny with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90. Sunday: mostly sunny, 82. Monday: partly sunny, 83. Tuesday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 85. Wednesday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Thursday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 88.

GENERAL QUARTERS, WISE DAN LEAD COMPETITIVE FRIDAY ALLOWANCE – Anyone taking a first glance at Friday’s ninth race at Churchill Downs might think that they were looking at a stakes race; however, it’s an allowance that just happened to come up very tough. The field of seven in the $64,700 allowance/optional claimer is headed by multiple Grade I-winner General Quarters, who is racing for the first time since late last summer, and Wise Dan, winner of last year’s Phoenix (GIII) at Keeneland.

Tom McCarthy’s General Quarters, winner of the 2009 Blue Grass (GI) at Keeneland and the 2010 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs, has not raced since finishing seventh in the Arlington Million (GI). He was sidelined last September when he injured his left front leg during training.

McCarthy has taken his time preparing General Quarters for his return and hopes the 5-year-old son of Sky Mesa will deliver a good performance Friday. “There are some really nice sprinters in the race, but hopefully he (General Quarters) will bring his run and be there at the end,” McCarthy said.

General Quarters fired a “bullet” work Sunday in preparation for Friday’s race and McCarthy was very pleased with the workout. “He went very nicely,” said McCarthy of General Quarters’ four furlong work in :47.80 over a fast main track at Churchill Downs. “It was a very good work.”

Morton Fink’s Wise Dan, the other graded stakes winner in the field, has been working forwardly at Keeneland since an eighth place finish in the Alysheba Presented by Besilu Stables (GIII) on Kentucky Oaks Day and will look to get back in the winner’s circle Friday. “His (Wise Dan) last couple of races were very tough and I’m glad we were able to get him in an allowance race,” trainer Charlie Lopresti said. “I think this is a good spot for him and hopefully he can get back on the winning track.”

Lopresti believes the main competition for his two-time Churchill Downs winner will come from General Quarters. “I haven’t looked at the field very closely yet, but I saw General Quarters is in and he’ll be tough,” Lopresti said.

The field is also highlighted by nine-time stakes winner Native Ruler and the stakes-winning 8-year-old, Grand Traverse. Maggi Moss’s Native Ruler has nearly $600,000 in career earnings and won the Bet On Sunshine stakes at Churchill Downs in 2008. Mimicry Partnership’s Grand Traverse is a 10-time winner with $361,499 in career earnings.

The ninth race will be the feature of the 11-race twilight program at Churchill Downs, which begins at 2:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) Friday. Post time for the ninth race is 6:54 p.m.

ROMANS, MOTION WILL FACE OFF IN MINT JULEP PRIOR TO BELMONT – The eyes of the horse racing world will be on Belmont Park at 6:36 p.m. Saturday to witness the Belmont Stakes (GI) rubber match between the Graham Motion-trained Animal Kingdom, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), and Preakness (GI) winner Shackleford, who is trained by Dale Romans. But Motion and Romans will face off at Churchill Downs about an hour before the starting gate springs open in the 143^rd running of the Belmont with 4-year-old fillies running the 35^th running of the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII), the feature race of an 11-race Saturday program beneath the Twin Spires.

Check the Label, who is trained by Motion for Lael Stables, will enter Saturday’s Mint Julep off a second-place finish to Embur’s Song in the Doubledogdare (GIII) over the Polytrack at Keeneland – her lone start of 2011. The 122-pound high weight for the Mint Julep, Check the Label’s biggest victory came in the Grade I Garden City at Belmont Park, where she finished a length ahead of Barbara Hunter’s homebred Snow Top Mountain, who will also run in the Mint Julep. Jeremy Rose will travel to Louisville to take the mount.

Weighted at 116 pounds is the Romans-trained Tapitsfly, who races under the colors of Frank L. Jones Jr. A 4-year-old daughter of Tapit, Tapitsfly captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Oak Tree at Santa Anita in 2009. Tapitsfly was injured following that victory and had a chip removed from her ankle, but resumed training at the end of 2010 and will make her fifth start of the year on Saturday. In her most recent start she finished seventh behind Aviate-GB in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile Presented by American Commercial Lines (GII) on Kentucky Derby Day. Miguel Mena will have the mount aboard Tapitsfly.

The field for the Early Times Mint Julep, from the rail with jockey and weight: Ravi’s Song (Corey Lanerie, 114), Bella Medaglia (Jamie Theriot, 113), Vivo Per Lei (Leandro Goncalves, 113), Silver La Belle (Brian Hernandez Jr., 112), Abuela (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., 113), Sweetest Song (Calvin Borel, 115), Tapitsfly (Mena, 116), Snow Top Mountain (Robby Albarado, 119), My Baby Baby (Manny Cruz, 116), Askbut I Won’ttell (Eduardo Perez, 117) and Check the Label (Rose, 122).

BLOCK HOPES ASKBUT I WON’TTELL WILL LAUNCH STRONG SPRING MEET STRETCH RUN – Chicago-based trainer Chris Block’s stable has long been a power at Arlington Park and Chicago-area tracks, but his team flexed considerable muscle in Kentucky during last year’s Churchill Downs Fall Meet when it won two major closing week stakes attractions in the Falls City Handicap (Grade II) won by Dundalk Dust and Giant Oak’s triumph via disqualification in the $500,000-added Clark Handicap (GI).

Those victories were the second and third Fall Meet stakes wins, respectively, for Block, who is hoping for a similar closing bid by his stable in the ongoing Spring Meet.  On Saturday Block will look to the horse that got the ball rolling for his team in the Fall Meet to build momentum again in the searing heat of June.

Team Block’s Askbut I Won’ttell notched the first of Block’s three stakes wins last fall in the Cardinal (GIII) on the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard.  She returns from a three-month break as one of the major contenders for the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep for fillies and mares ages three and up at a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

The Florida-bred mare is the first of three Block trainees targeted for stakes runs in the Spring Meet’s final weeks.  The others are Giant Oak, who is set to  run in the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on June 18, while Mister Marti Gras, a recent allowance winner on turf on turf who is now being pointed toward a run in the $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap (GII) on July 4, the final program of the meet.

Askbut I Won’ttell followed her Cardinal victory with a win over Trip for A.J. in the My Charmer (GIII) at Calder Race Course, but that rival turned the tables on Block’s 5-year-old mare when she scored a half-length victory over Askbut I Won’ttell in the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park.

Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep will be the first race for Askbut I Won’ttell since she finished fifth- in a strong renewal of the $150,000-added Hillsborough (GIII) on March 12 at Tampa Bay Downs.  The Hillsborough was won by Denomination, who returned to win the Violet (GIII) at Monmouth Park on May 30, and its third-place finisher was Keertana, who returned to take the Bewitch (GIII) at Keeneland and then became the first mare to defeat males in the 1 ½-mile Louisville Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs.

“We gave her a little time in between that last race and this race,” Block said.  “She ran well (in the Hillsborough), but you could just see she didn’t run like she had been and was a little flat.  So we backed off, freshened her up a little bit and targeted this race as her next spot.”

The daughter of Horse Chestnut brings a record of 6-4-2 in 18 races and career earnings of $384,362 into the Early Times Mint Julep.

With the Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Giant Oak looming as one of the likely favorites for the Stephen Foster, the newcomer in Block’s bid for a spring stakes three-bagger is Lothenbach Stables’ Mister Marti Gras.  The four-year-old gelded son of Belong to Me rallied from sixth to win a one-mile allowance race on the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 3.  Mister Marti Gras, the runner-up in both the American Derby (GII) at Arlington and Hawthorne Derby (GIII) at three, closed strongly that day to win over a grass course that had its temporary rail up and positioned 15 feet off the hedge, a configuration that often favors horses with early speed.

“That was kind of a race to see if he responded well here over this course,” Block said.  “Speed usually holds up when that rail is up, so that’s part of why I’ll just take a look at the Firecracker with him. I figured he overcame the (speed) bias in his race here.”

The only Fall Meet stakes star missing from Block’s spring arsenal is Dundalk 5 LLC’s Dundalk Dust, who has raced only once since her Falls City triumph: a last-of-seven effort behind Ravi’s Song as the favorite in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fair Grounds.  Dundalk Dust is training steadily at Churchill Downs and her return to racing is not far off, but Block is not sure when the Illinois-bred daughter of Military would run.

“She had some stomach issues over the winter, and that contributed to her poor performance in New Orleans,” Block said.  “We think we’ve got her back and turned around.”

A natural spot for Dundalk Dust’s return would have been the Fleur De Lis (GII), a 1 1/8 mile race for older fillies and mares run in recent years on Stephen Foster Day.  But that race is on hiatus for 2011.

“That would have been perfect,” Block said.  “I’d love to run her here on the dirt, but I don’t know that I’ll get that opportunity.  So I’m kind of taking a wait-and-see approach right now.”

MEET LEADERS AT A GLANCE – Jockey Corey Lanerie, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds are the leaders in their respective categories through 22 days of the 39-day Spring Meet.  Below is a look at the leaders entering Thursday’s action:

Top Jockeys

  1. Corey Lanerie (27-for-124, 22% win-percentage, $788,714 in earnings)

  2. Shaun Bridgmohan (23-for-120, 19%, $728,960)

  3. Julien Leparoux (20-for-109, 18%, $731,969)

  4. Calvin Borel (16-for-123, 13%, $513,501)

  5. Jon Court (14-for-88, 16%, $365,109)                                                       

Top Trainers

  1. Steve Asmussen (12-for-60, 20%, $936,531)

  2. Tom Amoss (9-for-24, 38%, $240,376)

  2. Dale Romans (9-for-58, 16%, $713,669)

  3. Eddie Kenneally (8-for-31, 26%, $198,428)

  4. Ken McPeek (7-for-35, 32%, $376,014)

  4. Tim Glyshaw (7-for-23, 30%, $109,880)

Top Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds (5-for-23, 22%, $110,570)

2. Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack (4-for-13, 31%, $77,315)

2. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables (4-for-7, 57%, $134,116)

3. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (3-for-29, 10%, $75,600)

3. Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable (3-for-13, 23%, $94,318)

3. Merrill Scherer, Dan Lynch and Ken Sentel (3-for-15, 20%, $84,442)

3. Robert Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (3-for-9, 33%, $98,745)

3. Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables LLC (3-for-9, 33%, $537,453)

3. Don Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (3-for-15, 20%, $216,669)

BARN TALK – Nominations for the 111^th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs close Saturday. The Debutante, which is scheduled to be run on the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 25, was won last year by Eldon Farm Equine, LLC’s Just Louise under Robby Albarado for trainer Dale Romans. …

Churchill Downs-based jockeys Julien Leparoux, Shaun Bridgmohan, Jesus Castanon and Kent Desormeaux will ride in New York on Saturday as part of the Belmont Stakes Day card. Leparoux, Bridgmohan and Desormeaux will ride at Churchill Downs on Thursday and Friday, but Castanon has already traveled to New York and will make his next start aboard Shackleford in the Belmont (GI).

Friday is the final 2:45 p.m. twilight racing program of the meet before "Downs After Dark" night racing returns with a 6 p.m. first post for the final three Fridays on June 17, June 24 and July 1. Also, the music of Wax Fang will headline the finale performance of the new Paddock Concert Series. The concert will begin shortly after the final race around 8 p.m. General admission will be $3 until 7 p.m. and $10 thereafter. The first 850 people in attendance for the concert will be allowed access into the saddling paddock to watch the concert up close in a VIP viewing area free of charge. A $20 Budweiser Select Balcony reserved ticket (available for purchase online at churchilldowns.com/tickets) includes front-row access, a prime undercover balcony overlooking the paddock and stage, extended drink specials throughout the night and a special gift from Budweiser Select. …

Friday Happy Hours presented by Budweiser Select will take place in the paddock area from 6-8:15 p.m., with $2 Budweiser products, frozen specialty drinks and hot dogs showcased. Also, the band Eight Inch Elvis will be on hand to entertain paddock patrons between races from 5-8 p.m. …

WORKTAB – Columbine Stable’s J.B.’s Thunder, winner of the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland last October, worked four furlongs in :51.00 over a “fast” main track at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning for trainer Al Stall Jr. The 3-year-old son of Thunder Gulch has not raced since finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) beneath the Twin Spires. …

Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack’s Dublin, who won the 2009 Hopeful (GI) at Saratoga and was seventh in the following year’s Kentucky Derby (GI), recorded his third consecutive “bullet” at Churchill Downs when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Wayne Lukas on Thursday morning. The 4-year-old son of Afleet Alex was fifth in the 2010 Preakness (GI) in his most recent start. …

Zayat Stables LLC’s Diva Ash, winner of the $113,800 Edgewood on the Kentucky Oaks Day undercard in her most recent start, breezed five furlongs around the dogs on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:01.80 for trainer Dale Romans. Diva Ash is nominated to run in the $125,000-added Regret (GIII), which is scheduled to be run on June 18 as part of the Stephen Foster Day undercard.

Right Time Racing LLC’s two Kentucky Oaks (GI) starters, Bouquet Booth (fifth) and Street Storm (eighth), each breezed five furlongs over the Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday for trainer Steve Margolis. Bouquet Booth covered the distance in 1:01.80 and Street Storm completed the work in 1:03.20. Both fillies are nominated to the Regret (GIII). …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (May 29- June 5) are Julien Leparoux (7-for-28), Corey Lanerie (7-for-32) and Robby Albarado (6-for-19). Ken McPeek (3-for-11) and Steve Asmussen (3-for-11) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (2-for-2), Stoneway Farm (2-for-2) and Charles E. Fipke (2-for-4).

WEATHER – Thursday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, 93. Friday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 91. Saturday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90. Sunday: mostly sunny, 87. Monday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 87. Tuesday: partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Wednesday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89.

 

SANTIVA WORKS, BOUND FOR BELMONT STAKES ON TUESDAY – Tom Walters’ Santiva, sixth to Team Valor International’s Animal Kingdom in the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), tuned up for a run in next week’s $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI) with a strong five-furlong work on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

            The Eddie Kenneally-trained son of Giant’s Causeway worked five furlongs over a fast track in 1:01 with assistant trainer Brendan Walsh in the saddle.  Santiva worked in company with stablemate Manx Miss and the duo finished with identical clockings for five furlongs, a time that tied for sixth fastest of 27 works at the distance.

            Santiva breezed in fractional times of :13, :25.20 and :36.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40.  His gallop out time was faster than either of the day’s two six-furlong works.

            “I’m very happy with him,” Kenneally said.  “He hasn’t missed a beat since the Derby.  He’s been on schedule and has had a good four weeks, and hopefully he’ll have another good week until we get to the Belmont.”

            The winner of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) is scheduled to ship on Tuesday to Belmont Park, where both Animal Kingdom and Preakness winner Shackleford will be awaiting in the 1 1/2 mile race that New Yorkers have dubbed the “Test of the Champion” through the years. 

            The Belmont Stakes will be the fourth start of the year for Santiva, who opened the season with a promising runner-up finish to likely Belmont rival Mucho Macho Man in the Risen Star (GII) at Fair Grounds.  But Kenneally’s colt then encountered major traffic woes in his final Kentucky Derby prep – a ninth-place finish behind Brilliant Speed in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) over Keeneland’s synthetic Polytrack course.

             “He didn’t get everything out of the Blue Grass that we had wanted,” Kenneally said.  “He got a little bit tired, perhaps, in the Derby.  He’s a horse that’s done well since then and we’re happy enough with the way he ran on Derby Day.”

 

            Kenneally believes Santiva is ready for the challenge of the mile and a half in the Belmont Stakes, which will be uncharted territory the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners and every other 3-year-old in the race.

            “The thing about it is you don’t know who is going to really be a mile-and-a-half horse until you try, so you don’t know about those horses either,” Kenneally said.  “Our horse is a horse that likes to run, he doesn’t quit and he keeps grinding it out.  He’s a tough little horse and he keeps fighting.  He’s tactical and he doesn’t have to be coming from way back. 

            “He likes to run in the middle of the pack, relatively close to the leader in the first tier of runners, so I think his running style would be effective in a race like the Belmont.  I don’t think the Belmont favors closers.  The Belmont traditionally, for the most part, favors horses that like to lay up close to the pace – not on the lead, necessarily, but close to the pace.”

            Santiva’s victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club in November remains his only triumph in his career record that stands at 1-3-1 in seven races.  His earnings total is $257,597.

            Shaun Bridgmohan, who was aboard Santiva in both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Jockey Club, is scheduled to ride the colt in the Belmont.

CLARK WINNER, STEPHEN FOSTER HOPE GIANT OAK WORKS SIZZLING FIVE FURLONGS – The Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Giant Oak, winner of Churchill Downs’ $500,000 Clark Handicap (GI) and the $500,000 Donn Handicap (GI) at Gulfstream Park, worked a sparkling five furlongs at Churchill Downs on Saturday in preparation the 30^th running of the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on June 18.

            The homebred 5-year-old son of Giants Causeway zipped over a fast track for trainer Chris Block to complete the five-furlong move in :59.60.  The work under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan was the “bullet” of 27 works at the distance and a full second faster than the morning’s second-best move.

            “He had a really good breeze this morning,” Block said.  “He’s on-target for the Stephen Foster.”

            Giant Oak will attempt to snap a two-race losing streak in the Foster after he started the year as a rising star in a division of American older horses thinned by the retirements of marquee stars that included Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) winner Blame, multiple Grade I winner Quality Road, 3-year-old champion Lookin At Lucky and, more recently, the versatile Grade I winner Paddy O’Prado. 

            His emphatic two-length win over Grade I winner Morning Line in the Donn underscored Giant Oak’s potential to be one of the names at the top of the division.  But that victory was followed by a setback in the New Orleans Handicap (GII), where he finished third to Mission Impazible and Apart, and a fifth-place run behind First Dude in the Alysheba at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day.  Giant Oak rallied from far back in the 1 1/16-mile Alysheba and was beaten by less than a length.

            Block, a three-time stakes winner during the 2010 Fall Meet, is looking forward to the Stephen Foster and sees the race as an opportunity to reclaim Giant’s Oaks early-season moment. He believes Giant Oak had excuses in each of those defeats.           

            “I haven’t lost any confidence in him at all,” Block said.  “I thought he had a real strong excuse in New Orleans.  He’s not real fond of that course.  As a 3-year-old I saw that, but I thought he was a little different horse now, so I thought we’d take another chance and another shot at it.  But he clearly does not like that track, so I’m kind of throwing that one out.  He had a legitimate excuse there.                                                                 

            “In the race here (the Alysheba) the last time, he kind of had a rough trip up the backside.  He and Demarcation were kind of hooked up together and there was a little bumping going on up the backside.  He never got on track where he got into a rhythm until he really got clear of that horse, and then he came with his big run.”

            Bridgmohan has ridden Giant Oak in his last four races and will be aboard for the Stephen Foster, a race in which Block’s Illinois-bred star finished fourth last year to Blame, the eventual Eclipse Award winner as America’s top older horse.

            Giant Oak’s career record stands at 5-5-4 in 26 races with earnings of $1,307,001.

YOUNG HORSES GIVE VETERAN TRAINER ‘EXTRA SHOT OF LIFE’ – Everyone has a first love, and for trainer Bernie Flint, that first love was training young horses.

            “I love training 2-year-olds,” Flint said. “Training young horses was my first love and they’ll always be my favorite horses to train.”

One might think that Flint, a 71-year-old with over 3,000 career victories and numerous training titles would be ready to retire, but he just keeps going and attributes his energy level to the young horses in his barn. “An untried 2-year-old gives you an extra shot of life,” Flint said. “There’s just something about the young horses that keeps me going.”

            Flint, who has won at an 18-percent clip in 2-year-old races throughout his career, has won with three of his first 11 2-year-old starters this year and he’s confident more wins are on the way.         “The owners - especially Jim Stone, Ed Wright, Miles Childers, and Dr. Naveed Chowhan - really stepped up and we were able to purchase some nice young horses,” Flint said. “I have the best group of 2-year-olds here (at Churchill Downs). Just watch how they run.”

            The New Orleans-native, who is known for having a high winning percentage with 2-year-olds, won with 15 of his 71 (21%) two-year-old starters in 2006; however, his winning percentage declined over the next few years and last year he trained just two juvenile winners from 22 starters (9%).

            “I got away from focusing on 2-year-olds and started trying to win claiming races with older horses,” Flint said. “This year we’ve gotten back to the 2-year-olds and I won’t be participating in the claiming game very much.”

            Flint, who began training full-time in 1976 after retiring from the New Orleans Police Department, still enjoys his job and hopes to be on the backstretch for a few more years.

            “I don’t know if I’ll still be around at (trainer D. Wayne) Lukas’ age (75),” Flint said. “But who knows, if a couple of these 2-year-olds develop into stakes winners then I could be around for a little while longer to see how they turn out.”

            Flint has 429 wins beneath the Twin Spires, which is fourth all-time behind Bill Mott (641), Dale Romans (525) and Lukas (482). L.T.B., Inc.’s One Sky will be Flint’s lone starter Saturday at Churchill Downs.      

BARN TALK – Jockey Julien Leparoux recorded his 466^th career Churchill Downs win and passed Patrick A. Johnson for 10^th all-time when he rode Legendary Heart to victory in the 11^th race Friday for trainer Steve Asmussen. Leparoux, who has 1,407 career victories overall, had his biggest day beneath the Twin Spires on May 2, 2009, when he rode Informed Decision to win the Humana Distaff (GI) and Einstein to win the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) on the Kentucky Derby Day undercard.  

Afleeting Lady, a 4-year-old half-sister to Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford, will attempt to break her maiden in Saturday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs for owners Michael Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge and trainer Dale Romans. Post time for the eighth race is 4:29 p.m. EST. …

Two apprentice riders – Constantino Roman and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. – are both ranked in the top 10 in wins in the jockey standings at Churchill Downs. Each rider has seven wins, which is good enough to be tied for ninth with Manny Cruz. …

The “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest returns Sunday. It continues each Sunday through June 12 in the Champions Club Lounge with $4,000 in prize money, including a $1,500 first prize and a coveted VIP trip to compete in the Horseplayer World Series at The Orleans Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The entry fee is $25 (or 25,000 Twin Spires Club points). Also on Sunday, simulcast action is highlighted by Woodbine’s stakes tripleheader, including the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser and the $150,000 Plate Trial. …

 WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (May 27- June 3) are Corey Lanerie (10-for-33) and Shaun Bridgmohan (8-for-32). Steve Asmussen (5-for-12), Bernie Flint (3-for-6) and Brad Cox (3-for-7) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (3-for-7) Stoneway Farm (2-for-3) and Vinery Stables, LLC (2-for-2).

 

WEATHER – Saturday: mostly sunny, 93; Sunday: mostly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90; Monday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92; Tuesday: mostly sunny and hot, 95; Wednesday: mostly sunny and hot, 96; Thursday: mostly sunny and hot with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 95; Friday: partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 95.

 

Donald Adam’s Prime Cut, a candidate to compete in the $1 million Belmont Stakes (Grade I) on June 11, worked five furlongs in 1:03.60 on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

            Exercise rider Dane Noel was in the saddle for trainer Neil Howard as the 3-year-old son of Bernstein covered the distance over a fast track in fractional splits of :13.40, :26, and :38.20 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.40.

            “Everything went good,” Howard said.  “I was just looking to go just a nice five-eighths – not too fast, not too slow.  I thought he went well, finished good and galloped out strong.   He’s been running – he’s just come off the Peter Pan – so he’s a pretty fit horse.”

            Howard said Prime Cut remains in the Belmont Stakes picture, but a final decision is pending.

            “He’s a possibility,” Howard said.  “We’re still going to take another couple of days before we make a decision.”

            Prime Cut finished third in his most recent start behind Alternation in Belmont’s Peter Pan (GII), and was runner-up to Derby Kitten in the Coolmore Lexington (GII) prior to that.  His lone win in five races this year was a victory over the highly-regarded Bind in an allowance race at Fair  Grounds.  His career record stands at 2-2-2 in seven races with earnings of $123,685.

            Meanwhile, Howard is making stakes plans for two other talented 3-year-olds in his care.  He said that Gaillardia Racing’s Wilkinson, winner of Fair Grounds’ Lecomte (GIII), would likely compete next in the $125,000-added Matt Winn Stakes (GIII) – formerly known as the Northern Dancer – on Stephen Foster Day, June 18, at Churchill Downs.  Courtlandt Farm’s Machen, winner of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII), will likely run in the Dwyer (GII) on July 2 at Belmont Park.

            Also on the Tuesday work tab was Zayat Stables’ Riley Tucker, who is scheduled to bid for a second consecutive victory in the six-furlong, $100,000-added Aristides (GIII) on Saturday.  The Steve Asmussen trainee breezed five furlongs in :50.80.

            Works on the firm Matt Winn Turf Course included a pair of moves by Tom Proctor-trained stars.  Glen Hill Farm’s American Turf Presented by RAM (GII) winner Banned breezed five furlongs in 1:03.80 in preparation for a possible start in the Jefferson Cup (GIII) on June 18.  Barbara Hunter’s homebred Snow Top Mountain, who is being pointed toward the Early Times Mint Julep (GIII), covered the same distance in 1:00.20, which was easily the fastest time among seven turf works at the distance.

KEERTANA HOPES TO MAKE HISTORY IN LOUISVILLE HANDICAP – Trainer Tom Proctor is confident that his mare Keertana can hold her own Saturday against males in the $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (Grade III) at 1 ½ miles over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

            “There’s a pretty good mare that’s won the last few Breeders’ Cup Mile races (Goldikova),” Proctor said. “If a mare is good enough then she can beat the boys. I could have shipped her and not run against the males, but I wanted to run her where I’m based; here at Churchill Downs.”

Barbara Hunter’s Keertana, a 5-year-old mare who won Keeneland’s Bewitch (GIII) last time out and finished a fast-closing third to Shared Account in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI) at Churchill Downs, will take on nine male rivals. No filly or mare has won any of the previous 73 runnings of the Louisville Handicap.

Keertana’s major opposition could come from Stella Perdomo’s Musketier, a German-bred Canadian invader trained by Roger Attfield and the Louisville Handicap’s high weight at 122 pounds. Musketier, who has won the last two renewals of Keeneland’s Elkhorn Handicap (GII) for Attfield, will be ridden by Jesus Castanon.

“The Attfield horse that’s won the last two Elkhorns is going to be really tough,” Proctor said. “There are some nice horses in this field, but he (Musketier) is definitely the horse to beat.”

Other major players include Frank Mancari’s defending winner Free Fighter, who has failed to win in eight races since his 12-1 upset in the 2010 Louisville; Michael Bruder’s Guys Reward, a recent allowance winner at Churchill Downs who finished second for trainer Dale Romans at odds of 40-1 in last year’s Commonwealth Turf (GIII) won by Yankee Fourtune; and Lothenbach Stable’s Bearpath, runner-up to Free Fighter in last year’s Louisville Handicap and second to Telling in the 2010 Sword Dancer Invitational (GI) at Saratoga.

            “It’s definitely a tough race,” Proctor said. “But she’s fit and she’s ready to ready to go.”

POTENTIAL BELMONT STARTERS TRAINING AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – A handful of horses based at Churchill Downs are under consideration for the $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI), the third and final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.  

Mike Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge’s homebred Shackleford returned to the Churchill Downs backstretch Sunday morning, the day after his triumph in the $1 million Preakness (GI). Trainer Dale Romans will train Shackleford as if he is going to start in the Belmont. The 3-year-old son of Forestry is expected to ship to New York in the next couple of days and will have a workout over the Belmont track before a final decision is made.

Tom Walters’ Santiva, who is probable to start in the final jewel of the Triple Crown, is scheduled to work on the main track Friday morning. Bad weather could delay the work until Saturday. Trained by Eddie Kenneally, Santiva finished sixth in his last race, the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

Donald Adam’s Prime Cut worked four furlongs in :50.20 over a fast Churchill Downs main track Wednesday morning. Trainer Neil Howard lists Prime Cut as “possible” for the Belmont. “We may run, but I want to see who else is going to be in there before I make a decision,” Howard said.

The Steve Asmussen-trained Nehro, runner-up to Animal Kingdom in Kentucky Derby 137, also is under consideration.

The 143^rd running of the Belmont Stakes will take place Saturday, June 11 at Belmont Park. The Bill Mott-trained Drosselmeyer won the 2010 Belmont for WinStar Farm.

BARN TALK – Former jockey Mark Guidry has made a return to the Churchill Downs backstretch to exercise horses for trainer Dale Romans. Guidry, who retired from riding at the conclusion of the 2007 Churchill Downs Fall Meet, is 19^th all-time in career Churchill Downs victories. Guidry’s biggest win under the Twin Spires came when he rode Lemons Forever to win the Kentucky Oaks (GI) in 2006. …  

Jockey Corey Lanerie led all riders last week with eight wins. Lanerie, who has 14 wins at the meet, is second in the jockey standings behind Shaun Bridgmohan with 15 wins. …

Nominations close Saturday for the 35^th running of the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Matt Winn Turf Course on Saturday, June 11. Hot Cha Cha won the 2010 Early Times Mint Julep.

THIS WEEK - The extended holiday weekend of racing at Churchill Downs will feature two graded stakes races, a post-race concert and happy hours, a handicapping contest and three days of Junior Jockey Club events for the kiddos. …

Racing through Monday’s special Memorial Day program will begin daily at 12:45 p.m. ET, with the exception of Friday’s twilight card that begins at 2:45 p.m. ET. …

This week’s featured performer for Friday night’s Paddock Concert Series is Dawn Landes and the Hounds. Brooklyn-based Landes, who was born in Kentucky and raised in Louisville, recently released her fourth album entitled Sweet Heart Rodeo. Her voice, as pure and ringing as any folk, country or indie-rock diva, has been compared to icons Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin. The concert will begin shortly after the final race around 8 p.m. ET. General admission will be its usual $3 until 7 p.m. but will increase to $10 thereafter. Reserved ticket packages, including a $20 ticket to the Budweiser Select Balcony, which features front-row access, a prime undercover balcony overlooking the paddock and stage, extended drink specials throughout the night and a special gift from Budweiser Select, are available for purchase online at ChurchillDowns.com/Tickets. …

Friday Happy Hours presented by Budweiser Select will take place in the paddock area from 6-8:15 p.m., with $2 Budweiser products, frozen specialty drinks and hot dogs showcased. The music of Eight Inch Elvis will entertain paddock patrons between races

            Saturday’s 11-race card is highlighted by the Grade III, $100,000-added Louisville Handicap, a 1 ½-mile turf test for older horses. It will run as Race 10 at 5:29 p.m. …

            There’ll be three days of crafts and games for children aged 3-10 at Churchill Downs’ Junior Jockey Club located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10. It’ll be open Saturday through Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Churchill Downs’ mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand for photographs between 2-2:30 p.m. …

On Sunday, the adults can have their own fun and games in the “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest. It continues each Sunday through June 12 in the Champions Club Lounge with $4,000 in prize money and a coveted first prize package of $1,500 and a spot to compete in the Horse Player World Series each week. The entry fee is $25 (or 25,000 Twin Spires Club points). …

Monday’s special Memorial Day program will feature the Grade III, $100,000-added Winning Colors. Entries for the six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares will be taken Friday.

 

2011 TRIPLE CROWN NOMINEES
f – filly   g – gelding   r- ridgling

A
Abjer (FR)
Abra
Achaemenes
Admiral Rocket – g
Adulare
Afleet’s Acclaim
Albergatti
Alexander Pope (IRE)
Alternation
Ameri Weber – g
Animal Kingdom
Annual Update
Anthony’s Cross
Apply
Arch Traveler
Archarcharch
Ari C
Artful Run
Arthur’s Tale
Associate
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Atlantic Bull
August Osage
Awed
Awesome Bet
Awesome Patriot
B
B F Bird
Back Room Deal
Balladry
Bandbox
Bayamo
Beamer
Become the Wind
Bellamy’s Boss – g
Bench Points – g
Benergy
Bert B Don
Big Herman
Big Mack Daddy
Billy Smart
Birdway
Black N Beauty
Blue Laser
Bluegrass Reward – g
Bomber Boy
Bonaroo
Boys At Tosconova
Br. Alexander
Break Up the Game
Brethren
Brickyard Fast
Brilliant Speed
Brock
Brooklyn Legend
Bryan Daniel
Burns – g
C
C J Russell
Cal Nation
Caleb’s Posse
Cane Garden Bay
Cash Michael
Casino Host
Casper’s Touch
Cassini Flight
Cat Sweep – g
Charlies Swell
Chasing Moonlight
Chico d’Oro - r
Classic Legacy – g
Clear Attempt
Close Ally
Cloud Man
Clubhouse Ride
Coil
Coming Through
Comma to the Top – g
Commander
Commonwealth Rush
Complete Dyno
Concealed Identity – g
Conway
Cook Inlet
Cool Blue Red Hot
Crimson China
Crossbow
Crossed the Line
Crushing
Cryin Out Loud
D
Da Ruler
Dance City
Data Link
Death Star
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Depeche Chat
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Derivative
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Distorted Appeal
Dixon Lane
D’marin
Doc La Pointe
Dominus
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Dream Drop Kid
Dreamy Kid
Dubber
Duca
Dynamize
E
Eastside Train
Economic Summit
El Grayling
Elite Alex
Energized
Eurasian – g
Extra Fifty
F
Factum
Fad
Fairview Heights
Fantasy of Flight – f
Fire With Fire
Flashpoint
Fly On the Wall
Foreboding
Fort Hughes
Fort Larned
Forum
Free Entry
Free Pourin
Free Ticket
French Fury
Fusa Code – g
G
G Ten
Gallant Dreams
Glint
Gnarly Dude – g
Golden Triumph
Gourmet Dinner
Grace’s Devil – g
Grande Shores
Grip Hands
Guest Star
Guy on the Go
Gypsy Wind
H
Hammersmith
Harlan’s Hello
Heat Shield
Heron Lake
Hoorayforhollywood
Hot Faucet
Houston Harbor
Humble and Hungry
Hy Lime Time
I
I’m Steppin Up
Imhotep
Indian Knight - r
Indian Winter
Industry Leader
Indy Heir
Indy Tune – g
Infrattini
Iscar
Isn’t He Perfect
J
J J’s Lucky Train
J P’s Gusto – r
Jack London
Jakesam
Jaycito
Jeanbaptiste Corot
Just Meteor
Justin Phillip
K
Kanagaroo
Kid You Not – g
King Alpha
King Congie
L
Lauburu
Le Mans
Leave of Absence
Lemansky
Lemon Ghost
Liondrive – g
Litigate – g
Lou Brissie
Lumberyard Jack – g
M
Mach Twelve
Machen
Mac’s Surprise
Maestro
Magnet Cove
Majestic Harbor
Major Art (GB)
Major Duomo
Major Gain
Manhattan Man
Manicero
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Mas Trueno
Master Dunker
Master of Hounds
Meadow Road
Meistersinger
Messner
Midnight Interlude
Mister Pippit
Monroe’s Music
Mont Pelato
Monzon – g
Moon On Fire
Moonhanger
Moreno Star
Mr Artistic M D – g
Mr. Commons
Mucho Macho Man
My Dividend
Mysticism
N
Nacho Business
National
Nehro
New Hyde Park – f
Night Hunt
Night Party
Nolangrant’skitten
Northern Indy
O
Occelli
Old Guys Rule
Old Hickory
One Cool Dude (ARG)
Opening Move
Ordained
Orsonian
Our Eli – g
P
Pants On Fire
Parent’s Honor
Perfect Coconut
Peter Martins
Pleasant Run
Point of Entry
Populist Politics
Poseidon’s Warrior
Positive Response – g
Post Ranch
Powhatan County
Praetereo
Praise the Bird
Preachintothedevil
Premier Pegasus
Pride of Silver – g
Prime Cut
Prime Objective
Printing Press
Private Prize
Purely Awesome
Q
Quail Hill
Queen’splatekitten
Quiet Assault
Quiet Pride
R
Racing Aptitude
Raison d’Etat
Rattlesnake Bridge
Razmataz
Read the Contract
Red Ace
Red Maserati
Redwood Falls
Rescind the Trade
Ribo Bobo – g
Riveting Reason
Robie the Cat
Rock So Hard
Rocking Out
Rogue Romance
Roman Classic
Ronin Dax
Rothko
Runflatout – r
Rustler Hustler
S
Sachem
Sampo – g
San Pablo
Santiva
Sasueno
Scuff
Seal Rock
Sensational Slam
Sequoia Warrior
Shackleford
Shadow Warrior
Shamino
Silver Medallion
Simbamangu
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Stay Thirsty
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Surrey Star (IRE)
Sway Away
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T
Tale of the Dance
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Tapizar
Taptowne
Tech Fall
Tazered
Ten Devils
The Factor
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Thirtyfirststreet
Tiz Blessed
To Honor and Serve
Toby’s Corner
Tokubetsu
Toreador
Travelin Man
Turbulent Descent – f  
Twice the Appeal
Twinspired
Tyrus
U
Unbridled Kimanchi
Unbridled Sheriff
Uncle Mo
Uncle Sam – r
Uncle Smokey – g
Unex Dali (GB)
V
Valiant Tenebob
Violadellamora – f
W
Warren’s Dr. Ying
Warren’s Knockout
Washington’s Rules – g
Wegner
Western Aristocrat
What a Rush
Wilburn
Wilkinson
Willcox Inn
Winchill
Wolfcamp
World Renowned
Would You
Y
Yankee Passion
Z
Zoebear – g
Zorro Veloz

Headed by unbeaten Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I) and Eclipse Award champion Uncle Mo, 364 3-year-old Thoroughbreds have been nominated early as prospects to contest the 2011 renewals of the three classic races that make up American horse racing’s Triple Crown.

The first of those spring classics – the 137th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) – is set for Saturday, May 7, at world-famous Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., followed on May 21 by the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes (GI) at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and the 143rd Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 11 at New York’s Belmont Park. The early nomination period, during which each nomination costs $600, closed on Saturday, Jan. 22. A late period for nominations – at $6,000 each – will conclude on Saturday, March 26.

This year’s early nomination total is just two less than last year’s early total of 366.  Six horses were made eligible for the Triple Crown series during last year’s late nomination period, which raised the final total of 2010 nominees to 372.

Aside from being the leader in the 2011 class of 3-year-olds, Uncle Mo, owned by New Yorker Mike Repole, has a chance to give trainer Todd Pletcher back-to-back victories in the $2-million Kentucky Derby, America’s most coveted race. Pletcher notched his long-awaited first Derby win last year with WinStar Farm’s homebred Super Saver. Overall, the five-time Eclipse Award winner has saddled 28 Kentucky Derby starters.  Uncle Mo’s dominant 4 ¼-length victory in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs made Repole’s colt the early favorite for the 2011 Derby.

The list of Triple Crown nominees includes 15 of the 20 horses ranked atop the 2010 Experimental Free Handicap, an annual performance rating of the year’s most accomplished 2-year-olds. Uncle Mo, currently stabled in Florida, heads that group, which also includes fellow East Coast stars To Honor and Serve, winner of the Remsen (GII), and Champagne (GI) winner Boys at Tosconova; West Coast stars Comma To The Top, winner of the CashCall Futurity (GI), and Jaycito, who took top honors in the Norfolk (GI); and Del Mar Futurity (GI) victor J P’s Gusto, now training in Arkansas after moving from his former Southern California base.

Four fillies are among the 364 nominees.  The female contingent is headed by Turbulent Descent, who was unbeaten in three races at two and runner-up in her 2011 debut in the Grade I Las Virgenes at Santa Anita.  Two Triple Crown races have been won by fillies in the past five years: eventual Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra took the Preakness in 2009 and Rags to Riches won the 2007 Belmont Stakes. Three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby, with Winning Colors being the most recent in 1988.

A mild surprise in this year’s early roster of Triple Crown nominees is the list includes only six horses from Europe.  Trainers Jeremy Noseda, with three nominees, and Clive Brittain, with one, carry the hopes of Great Britain.  Irish training star Aidan O’Brien has a pair of nominees.

Notably absent from the roster nominating owners is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s powerful Godolphin Racing.  The Dubai-based operation usually nominates several prospects during the early phase, but Godolphin representatives have informed Triple Crown officials that the stable will wait until after the March 26 UAE Derby at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse to decide if any of its horses would be nominated to the 2011 series.

“The impressive roster of nominees to the Triple Crown provides proof that the desire to achieve horse racing’s ultimate dream of a Kentucky Derby win and Triple Crown sweep of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes is as strong as ever,” said Don Richardson, senior vice president of Racing for Churchill Downs.  “Despite a difficult economy, a reduction in annual foal crops and other challenges to our horse industry, the Triple Crown’s early nominations are basically flat with last year’s total.  That’s a wonderful show of faith on the part of the international group of owners and trainers that have nominated horses to this year’s races.  We appreciate their support and anticipate a thrilling and memorable Triple Crown series in 2011.”

Pletcher leads the list of nominee numbers for the second straight year, but shares 2011’s top spot with Hall of Famer and three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert.  Both nominated 20 3-year-olds to the Triple Crown. Steve Asmussen, who is searching for his first Kentucky Derby victory but has a pair of wins in the Preakness, is alone in the next spot on the trainers’ list with 17 nominations, and filling out the top five are Hall of Famers and multiple Triple Crown race winners D. Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito, both with 12 nominations. Also posting double-figure nomination totals are Kiaran McLaughlin with 11 and Mike Maker with 10.  McLaughlin and Maker are seeking their first victories in Triple Crown races.

Other Hall of Fame trainers represented by nominees include Bill Mott with seven; Neil Drysdale and Richard Mandella, each with four; Shug McGaughey with three, and Carl Nafzger and Jonathan Sheppard, each with one.

Darley, another arm of Sheikh Mohammed’s worldwide racing operation, leads the ownership bracket with 13 nominees, followed by the partnership of Klaravich Stables and W.H. Lawrence and Zayat Stables, both with eight Triple Crown prospects.  Westrock Stables nominated six 3-year-olds, while Robert LaPenta, Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Stonestreet Stables and Michael Tabor each nominated five prospects.

Bursting on the scene as leading sire is 2006 Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini with 18 progeny on the list, far outrunning the rest of the pack. Second among the leaders is another young sire, Tapit, with 13. Third on the list is 2010 Triple Crown sire leader Distorted Humor, who sired 10 of this year’s nominees.  He is followed closely by Dynaformer, Indian Charlie and Lemon Drop Kid, each with nine.

The Kentucky Derby field has been limited to 20 starters since 1975, and accumulated earnings in prestigious graded stakes races along the “Road to the Triple Crown” have determined the field for the 1 ¼-mile classic since 1986.  The field for the Preakness, the 1 3/16-mile second jewel of the Triple Crown, is limited to 14 starters, while Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion” and finale of the series at 1 ½ miles, permits a maximum field of 16 horses.

A Triple Crown sweep – one of the most difficult feats in all of sports – has been accomplished on just 11 occasions: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1942), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Fifty other horses have finished one win shy of the honor.

The 2010 Triple Crown yielded different winners for all three races, although WinStar Farm owned and bred two of the winners.  WinStar’s Super Saver, trained by Pletcher and ridden by Calvin Borel, won the Kentucky Derby.  Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman’s Lookin At Lucky, trained by Baffert and ridden by Martin Garcia, won the Preakness on his way to earning an Eclipse Award that honored the colt as America’s 3-year-old champion.  WinStar collected a bookend Triple Crown victory when Drosselmeyer, another homebred, won the Belmont Stakes for trainer Mott and jockey Mike Smith.  The Belmont victory was Mott’s first Triple Crown win..

The current 32-year streak without a Triple Crown winner is the longest in the history of the series.  The previous record was a 25-year gap between the Triple Crown earned by Citation in 1948 and Secretariat’s stunning sweep in 1973.

Thomas and Jack Conway’s Stately Victor, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) at Keeneland and eighth to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), tuned up for a run in the June 5 Belmont Stakes (GI) with a sharp five-furlong workout on Tuesday at Churchill Downs’ Trackside Louisville training center.

Mike Maker-trained son of Ghostzapper zipped over a fast track to cover the five furlongs in :59.40 in the only work at that distance over the six-furlong oval.  Exercise rider Derrick Smith was in the saddle as the 3-year-old colt worked in fractional times of :11.60, :22.80, :34.20 and :46.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.20.

Maker timed the work a bit slower on his stopwatch, but was happy with the effort by Stately Victor.  He said the Conway colt would ship to New York’s Belmont Park on Thursday for final preparations for the 1 ½-mile concluding jewel of the Triple Crown.

“Time doesn’t mean anything to us, it doesn’t mean anything in the race,” Maker said.  “He’s happy and he did it the way he always works, so we’re pleased.”

Like many in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, Stately Victor was bounced around a bit during the 1 ¼-mile opening jewel of the Triple Crown.  But Maker said the colt returned to the track on schedule and has done well since.

He got whacked around, but other than that he came out of it well,” Maker said.  “He hasn’t missed a bite of grain and hasn’t lost a pound.”

Stately Victor is scheduled to complete his serious preparation for the Belmont Stakes with a Tuesday work over the sprawling 1 ½-mile Belmont oval.

“Hopefully we’ll draw an outside post, just slap him on cruise control and grind it out,” Maker said.  “I thought he ran a credible race in the Derby and I think you throw him out at your own risk.  Compared to some of the other horses, if he fires his Blue Grass race back, he’s going to be competitive.  I think if he runs his Derby race back, he’s going to be competitive.”

Some trainers head to Belmont Park early to help their horses adapt to the massive surface that has been nicknamed “The Big Sandy” over the years.  While Maker wants Stately Victor to get a race over the surface, he has no worries about the colt’s ability to handle the racing surface at Belmont.

"Actually, I think the track’s going to favor him just because he’s a great big horse,” Maker said.  “We’re training on the littlest track and going to the biggest one.”

Maker is hoping for a pace scenario that would allow jockey Alan Garcia to lay closer to the leaders than the sizzling pace delivered by Conveyance and Sidney’s Candy in the Kentucky Derby.

“Hopefully the two ‘Dudes’ (Preakness runner-up First Dude and GIII Lone Star Derby winner Game On Dude) will duke it out and we’re not too far behind,” he said. 

Stately Victor will bring a career record of 2-1-0 in nine races with earnings of $493,213 into the Belmont Stakes.

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) – Tidal Pool, third to Blind Luck in the Kentucky Oaks (GI), breezed a half-mile in :48.40 for trainer D. Wayne Lukas … (Turf: FIRM, dogs up) – Mrs. Revere (GII) and Regret (GIII) winner Keertana breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 … El Camino Real Derby (GIII) winner Connemara breezed five furlongs in 1:02.80 for trainer Todd Pletcher … Silverbulletday (GIII) winner Jody Slew, 13th in the Kentucky Oaks, breezed four furlongs in :49.60.  … Wise River breezed four furlongs in :49.20.