Horses still under consideration for the 137th running of the Preakness on Saturday, May 19 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

GUYANA STAR DWEEJ – Shivmangal Racing Stable’s son of Eddington was declared from the Preakness after a left front leg injury failed to improve sufficiently, trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal reported from Belmont Park Wednesday morning.

“We looked at the horse where he had grabbed his quarter a little bit galloping, and it was still not properly healed,” Shivmangal said. “We didn’t get any kind of work into him because of the track being bad the last week, so we decided we’re going to have to skip this one.”

Guyana Star Dweej would have been Shivmangal’s second consecutive starter in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Isn’t He Perfect finished ninth in last year’s race.

“This is really rough for me,” Shivmangal said. “We’re more than disappointed.”

(Updated May 16)

BODEMEISTER
I’LL HAVE ANOTHER
COZZETTI
CREATIVE CAUSE
DADDY NOSE BEST
WENT THE DAY WELL
TEETH OF THE DOG
TIGER WALK
ZETTERHOLM  
OPTIMIZER
PRETENSION

(Updated May 13)

The Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, has 14 spots in the starting gate for the May 19 race at Pimlico in Baltimore, Md.

I’ll Have Another leads all Preakness prospects with $2,060,600 on the graded-earnings list, on which the first seven automatically earn a berth in the 14-horse field. I’ll Have Another, Bodemeister (2nd),  Went the Day Well (4th), and Creative Cause (5th) qualified for an automatic Preakness start by earning a check in the Derby. Hansen and Liaison round out the top seven.

In the second tier of the Preakness qualifying system, which is based on open-stakes earnings, Isn’t He Clever, Optimizer, Hierro and Teeth of the Dog are currently sitting eighth through 11th.

In the third tier, which is based on total earnings, Pretension, Tiger Walk and Paynter round out the 14 available spots as of Tuesday.

Zetterholm, Cozzetti, Guyana Star Dweej and Brimstone Island (in order listed) are on the also-eligible list in which two spots will be available at entry time.

BALTIMORE, Md. – Reddam Racing’s Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another was settled into his new home in Barn D at Pimlico Race Course Tuesday morning as the focus has shifted toward the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on May 19.

Following what is standard procedure for a horse in the days after a race, I’ll Have Another was limited to very light exercise Tuesday morning. 

“He walked this morning for about 15 or 20 minutes,” assistant trainer Jack Sisterson said. “He was just taking it all in and looking around. He’s feeling good.”

Trainer Doug O’Neill returned to California Sunday afternoon and Sisterson oversaw I’ll Have Another’s move from Churchill Downs to Pimlico on Monday. Sisterson said the colt has come out of the Derby in great shape.

“He looks like he never ran,” he said. “He’s eaten everything up. He wants to get out of the barn. He’s quiet once he’s in there, but once he’s out, it’s like, ‘OK, I want to go out to the track now.’ That’s something we want to see. After a race, especially one like the Kentucky Derby, you’re always wondering if it has taken something out of him, but he’s doing fantastic.”

Sisterson said the colt may go to the track to jog Wednesday morning after the renovation break at 8:30. He said that O’Neill, who is expected to be at Pimlico Thursday morning, will make the decision on I’ll Have Another’s schedule. I’ll Have Another got celebrity treatment when he arrived by flight from Louisville, receiving an escort by the Baltimore City Police Department from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Pimlico.

“Everything went as smooth as could be,” Sisterson said. “He enjoyed the flight, enjoyed the van ride and took it right in his stride. It was great.”

I’ll Have Another is the first Kentucky Derby winner in more than a decade to ship into Pimlico within a week of the race in Louisville. Since O’Neill is based in California and he does not have a division stabled in Kentucky, he decided to send his Derby winner straight to Baltimore and give him plenty of time to adjust to a new track.

“The guys at Pimlico couldn’t have been better,” Sisterson said. “They are really accommodating to us. Anything we want they get us. They’re stopping by every five minutes asking if there is anything we need. It’s been fantastic. They really like it that we’re here. We’re happy. They’re happy. It’s a winning combination.”

I’ll Have Another leads all Preakness prospects with $2,060,600 on the graded-earnings list, on which the first seven automatically earn a berth in the 14-horse field. I’ll Have Another, Bodemeister (2nd), Dullahan (3rd), Went the Day Well (4th), and Creative Cause (5th) qualified for an automatic Preakness start by earning a check in the Derby. Hansen and Liaison round out the top seven.

In the second tier of the Preakness qualifying system, which is based on open-stakes earnings, Isn’t He Clever, Optimizer, Hierro and Teeth of the Dog are currently sitting eighth through 11th.

In the third tier, which is based on total earnings, Pretension, Tiger Walk and Paynter round out the 14 available spots as of Tuesday.

Zetterholm, Cozzetti, Guyana Star Dweej and Brimstone Island (in order listed) are on the also-eligible list in which two spots will be available at entry time.

CREATIVE CAUSE CONFIRMED FOR PREAKNESS

CREATIVE CAUSE – Heinz Steinmanns’ gray colt is a likely Preakness starter, trainer Mike Harrington said Tuesday. The three-time graded-stakes winner was shipped back to Harrington’s stable in California after he finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby. Harrington likes the way the colt looks thus far and said he is scheduled to make the trip to Baltimore next week.

“We’re planning on it; we’ve got the flight booked,” Harrington said. “We have to see how he bounces back.”

Creative Cause is scheduled to be on a Wednesday, May 16 flight that originates in California, stops in Louisville, Ky. to pick up some more horses and completes its journey at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

PHOTO CREDIT-Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club
I’ll Have Another walks the shedrow at Pimlico.

BALTIMORE, Md. – Kentucky Derby (G1) winner I’ll Have Another completed his journey to the Preakness Stakes at 5:07 p.m. Monday afternoon, 12 days before he will compete in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at historic Pimlico Race Course. The 137th running of the Preakness® Stakes (G1) is Saturday, May 19.

Led by groom Benjamin Perez, the Reddam Racing LLC colt stepped off the horse van that carried him 19 miles from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Pimlico. The Derby winner left Louisville on a Tex Sutton charter three hours earlier and got a police escort to the track from the Baltimore City Police Department.

“He loves to fly,” said assistant trainer Jack Sisterson. “His ears were pricked. We were getting a police escort and there were people in the streets chanting ‘I’ll Love Another’. He knows that’s him. His ears were pricked and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’”

It is the earliest arrival by a Derby winner since Monarchos was shipped to Baltimore four days after his 2001 victory. About two decades ago, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas started a trend of waiting until the Tuesday or Wednesday of Preakness week before shipping to Baltimore. That approach became the norm, but trainer Doug O’Neill was anxious to get his colt to Baltimore.

“There were a couple of reasons,” added Sisterson. “We discussed a few plans and we just thought the more time here to get used to the surface, the better for him. He was enjoying the track at Churchill, and we took him a week before there. It’s not going to hurt him being here for the two weeks.”

Sisterson said I’ll Have Another will walk the shedrow tomorrow. The colt is a perfect three-for-three this year with previous victories in the Robert Lewis Stakes (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1).

O’Neill will arrive from Southern California Wednesday when I’ll Have Another is expected to return to the track. The conditioner will be throwing out the first pitch when the Baltimore Orioles host the New York Yankees next Tuesday, May 15.

“Every trainer has a different training style,” said Sisterson. “I suppose it’s better to get the horse used to the surface and things like that. So, he’s here now, and we’re excited to have him here for the two weeks.”

The son of Flower Alley will reside in Stall 17 of Barn D, next to the Preakness Stakes barn.

Also on the flight with I’ll Have Another was Went the Day Well. The Graham Motion trainee was then vanned to the Fair Hill Training Center where he will prepare for the Preakness. The son of Proud Citizen finished fourth in Saturday’s Derby and is a confirmed Preakness starter.

Others under consideration for Maryland’s signature race from the Kentucky Derby are Bodemeister (second), Dullahan (third), Creative Cause (fifth), Liaison (sixth), Hansen (ninth) and Optimizer (11th). Union Rags (seventh) has been removed from the list of potential starters.

Potential new shooters include Brimstone Island (second, Canonero II); Cozzetti (forth, Arkansas Derby); Hierro (winner, Derby Trial); Isn’t He Clever (eighth, Arkansas Derby); Paynter (second, Derby Trial); Pretension (winner, Canonero II); Teeth of the Dog (third, Wood Memorial); Tiger Walk (fourth, Wood Memorial) and Zetterholm (winner, Patsyprospect).

The Preakness is limited to 14 starters, with two also-eligibles runners. The first seven starters are determined by most graded earnings, the next four starters from earnings from open stakes races. The final three starters are based off of total earnings.

Under the three-tiered system, the horses currently on the outside looking in are Zetterholm, Cozzetti and Brimstone Island. 

PHOTO CREDIT-Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club
I’ll Have Another walks into the Stakes Barn Monday at Pimlico.

KENTUCKY DERBY CHAMPION JOURNEYS TO PIMLICO, I’LL HAVE ANOTHER EARLY ARRIVAL FOR PREAKNESS; WENT THE DAY WELL CONFIRMED FOR MIDDLE JEWEL

BALTIMORE, Md. – Reddam Racing’s I’ll Have Another boarded a van at Churchill Downs at 1:19 p.m. Monday for the first leg of a journey to Pimlico Race Course, where his quest for a sweep of the Triple Crown will resume in the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 19. Following a flight from Louisville International Airport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. arrival, the 2012 Kentucky Derby champion will be provided an escort to Barn D on the Pimlico backstretch by the Baltimore City Police Department.

I’ll Have Another’s arrival at Pimlico for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown will be the earliest by a Kentucky Derby winner in many years.

Trainer Doug O’Neill, who returned to Southern California to tend to his stable at Santa Anita, deputized assistant trainer Jack Sisterson to supervise I’ll Have Another’s trip to Baltimore. Everything went smoothly, but the 27-year-old native of Durham, England was still having trouble describing the elation he felt from the 3-year-old son of Flower Alley’s victory at Churchill Downs Saturday.

I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. Words can’t describe how I feel. Seeing him at the 1/16th-pole coming down the racetrack in front and crossing the finish line, I said, ‘Wow! We did it! ’” said Sisterson, who has been working for O’Neill for a year. “Even the excitement getting to the race was a real experience in itself. On the walk-over, I said, ‘Wow! Here we go!’”

I’ll Have Another, who became the first horse in Derby history to win after breaking from the No. 19 post, received a dream trip under jockey Mario Gutierrez before running down pacesetter Bodemeister nearing the finish line on his way to victory by 1½ lengths.

For Sisterson it was a victorious homecoming, of sorts. He attended the University of Louisville on a soccer scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in equine administration. He worked for trainers Todd Pletcher and Eddie Kenneally in Kentucky before venturing to Southern California three years ago.

Sisterson and five other members of O’Neill’s crew that accompanied I’ll Have Another to Pimlico were still feeling the jubilation of their Kentucky Derby experience Monday, but the assistant trainer said that the work atmosphere in the stable is always upbeat on a daily basis.

“It’s fantastic working for somebody who (creates) such a teamwork effort,” Sisterson said. “It’s a complete open-door policy. I suppose if you work for a boss like that, you feel more comfortable going to work. If you come out to California and come to the barn, the spirits are high and we’re all family. If the spirits are high with the employees, I think it rubs off on the horses. I think that was brought out on Saturday.”

The Derby winner’s owner, J. Paul Reddam, has rented a house for the crew’s two-week stay in Maryland.

I’ll Have Another, who had won the Robert Lewis (G2) and the Santa Anita Derby (G1) at Santa Anita before making his triumphant trip east, was accompanied to Pimlico by Lava Man, the multiple Grade 1 stakes winner who is now serving as a stable pony, among several other O’Neill-trained horses.

“Lava Man was the celebrity of the week (before the Derby),” said Sisterson of the former claimer who went on to earned $5.2 million. “They were like a tag team, Lava Man and I’ll Have Another. Lava Man brought him to the start on Saturday.”

I’ll Have Another leads all Preakness prospects with $2,060,600 on the graded earnings list, on which the first seven automatically earn a berth in the 14-horse field. Bodemeister, Creative Cause and Went the Day Well earned an automatic Preakness start by earning a check in the Kentucky Derby. Hansen, Union Rags and Liaison round out the Top 7.

In the second-tier of qualifying, the four horses with the most stakes earnings (minus restricted stakes earnings) are Isn’t He Clever, Optimizer, Hierro and Tiger Walk.

The remaining prospects are ranked by total earnings, including Pretension, Paynter and Zetterholm.

In the unlikely event that all of the above horses are confirmed for the Preakness, Cozzetti and Brimstone Island would be on the also-eligible list.

WENT THE DAY WELL – Trainer Graham Motion was in the process of closing up shop at Barn 22 Monday morning as Team Valor International and Mark Ford’s Went the Day Well walked the shedrow.

“We were fortunate enough to catch a ride with the Derby winner (I’ll Have Another) to Baltimore today,” Motion said of the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby. “He is doing well and the plan is to run in the Preakness as long as he is doing well.”

Barry Irwin’s Team Valor confirmed later that Went the Day Well will be pointed to the Preakness on Twitter.

Went the Day Well will van to the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. to resume his training.

COZZETTI/DULLAHAN – Albaugh Family Stables LLC’s Cozzetti, worked five furlongs after the morning renovation break at Churchill Downs in 1:01.

Working on his own with exercise rider Faustino Aguilar up, Cozzetti broke off at the half-mile pole and posted fractions of :12.60, :24.80, :37, :48.80 and out six furlongs in 1:13.80 and seven-eighths in 1:27.20. The move was the fifth fastest of 19 at the distance.

“I thought he worked well,” trainer Dale Romans said of Cozzetti, who finished fourth in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his most recent start.

Romans, who won the Preakness last year with Shackleford, plans to take Cozzetti to Pimlico for a bid to make him the first trainer since Bob Baffert in 2001-02 to take the Preakness in consecutive years. Baffert won with Point Given and War Emblem.

Cozzetti has amassed $85,000 in graded stakes earnings from the Arkansas Derby and a third-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2).

“The Preakness is still on if he can get in,” Romans said.

Romans could have one other Preakness entrant in third-place Kentucky Derby finisher Dullahan for Donegal Racing, who has not been ruled out.

“We are going to talk it over in a little while, but we are not committed to the race yet,” said Jerry Crawford, manager of Donegal. Dullahan would be an automatic qualifier for the Preakness based on his finish in the Derby.

BODEMEISTER/LIAISON/PAYNTER – It was a quiet Monday morning on the Bob Baffert side of Barn 33 at Churchill Downs as the trainer’s two Kentucky Derby runners walked under the watchful eye of assistant Jim Barnes.

Zayat Stables and Michel and Tiffany Moreno’s Bodemeister (second) and Arnold Zetcher’s Liaison (sixth) are considered as possible for the Preakness although no decision will be made until Baffert returns from Southern California this weekend.

Also walking the shedrow Monday was Zayat Stables’ Paynter, who worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 on Sunday and also is considered a possible Preakness participant. Paynter finished second in the April 28 The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (G3) that was run on a sloppy track.

Also considered possible to head to Pimlico from the Baffert barn is Peachtree Stable’s undefeated filly Mamma Kimbo, Two-for-two in her career with a victory in the Fantasy (G2) in her most recent start, Mamma Kimbo worked a bullet five-eighths in :58.80 on Sunday as a prep for a possible start in the May 18 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

HANSEN – Dr. Kendall Hansen and Skychai Racing’s Hansen walked the shedrow at trainer Mike Maker’s barn at the Trackside Training Center. Maker said the 2011 Eclipse Award winner as champion 2-year-old came out of his ninth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby in good order and is scheduled to return to the track Wednesday.

HIERRO/ISN’T HE CLEVER – Stonestreet Stables’ Hierro, winner of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (G3) at Churchill on April 28, worked a half-mile in: 52 under exercise rider Carlos Rosas before the morning renovation break.

Working on his own, Hierro posted fractions of :12.80, :25.60 and galloped out five-eighths in 1:05.60 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Also working for Asmussen was J. Kirk and Judy Robison’s Isn’t He Clever, runner-up in the Sunland Derby (G3) and eighth in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his most recent start. Isn’t He Clever worked five furlongs in 1:02 with Rosas up. Working on even terms in company with 7-year-old stakes winner Jimmy Simms, Isn’t He Clever posted fractions of :14, :26.80, :38.20 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.60 and seven-eighths in 1:28.80.

Both horses are thought to be possible for the Preakness.

“We have not made a decision on the Preakness,” Robison said from El Paso, Texas. “We want to see how the race is shaping up and do the best thing for our horse. He will work again next Monday and we may not have a decision until then.”

OPTIMIZER – Bluegrass Hall’s Optimizer is scheduled to return to the track Wednesday according to trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Optimizer finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Lukas is planning to bring several other horses to Pimlico when he brings Optimizer for the Preakness. Included among those will be Bluegrass Hall’s Skyring, a gritty winner on the Derby Day card.

“He will run in one of the undercard races,” Lukas said.

ZETTERHOLM – Trainer Richard Dutrow said that the Winter Park Partners’ New York-bred colt is pointed to the Peter Pan (G2) Saturday at Belmont Park, but would rather run him in the Preakness.

“When Pimlico tells us we’re in, I’ll start planning for the Preakness,” Dutrow said. “Right now there is the race at Belmont and we’ll go there unless we hear we’re getting into the field for the Preakness.”

Zetterholm is on a three-race winning streak. He broke his maiden at Aqueduct on Feb. 4, added an allowance victory on March 4 and finished first in the one-mile Patsyprospect Stakes on April 6. The Silver Train colt has three wins and a second in five career starts and has earnings of $123,505.

BARN TALK – Jonathan Rey, Javier Sarmiento and Dante Zanelli Jr.’s Oaks Lily, who was on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Oaks but did not draw into the race, worked a bullet half-mile in :46.80 Monday morning at Churchill Downs. The move, completed before the renovation break and over a fast track, was the best of 33 at the distance for the morning. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.60.

“We are leaving in the next day or two for Pimlico,” said Zanelli, who is supervising the Keeneland maiden winner’s training in Kentucky. “I think we should be able to get in (the May 18 Black-Eyed Susan).”

BALTIMORE, Md. – I’ll Have Another finished fast to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) Saturday and he isn’t wasting any time getting to Pimlico Race Course to begin preparations for the 137th running of the Preakness® Stakes (G1) on Saturday, May 19.

Breaking the recent form of Kentucky Derby winners, I’ll Have Another is scheduled to travel from Louisville, Ky. to Maryland on Monday afternoon. It will be the earliest arrival by a Derby winner since Monarchos was shipped to Baltimore four days after his 2001 victory.

Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill confirmed to track president Tom Chuckas and other Pimlico officials on Sunday morning that Reddam Racing’s I’ll Have Another will be headed to Baltimore for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“Here we come, babe,” O’Neill said.

Chuckas called O’Neill shortly after his appearance on NBC’s “Today” show to congratulate the Southern California-based conditioner and to personally invite him to the Preakness.

O’Neill was still basking in the glory of his first Derby victory.

“I am going to stay up here as long as we can. I don’t want it to end,” O’Neill said. “If I could push the button to slow it down, I would have. It is just so cool.”

O’Neill said that I’ll Have Another came of the Derby in great shape. The Robert Lewis (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner caught Bodemeister with 100 yards to run and won by a 1½ lengths.

“The colt looks great this morning,” O’Neill said.  “He licked his feed tub, was jogging sound and had great energy. He looks fantastic.”

Seven of the next 10 horses that followed I’ll Have Another across the finish line – including runner-up Bodemeister, trained by five-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert – are considered as possible candidates to start in the Preakness. Decisions on whether they will compete at Pimlico will be made by owners and trainers during the next week.

The group of runners that could continue on from the Derby is comprised of Went the Day Well, 4th; Creative Cause, 5th; Liaison, 6th; betting favorite Union Rags, 7th; Hansen, 9th and Optimizer, 11th.

There are seven possible new shooters for the Preakness: Pretension and Brimstone Island, the winner and runner-up from the Canonero II Stakes Saturday at Pimlico; Cozzetti, trained by Dale Romans, who saddled the 2011 Preakness winner, Shackleford; the top two finishers in the Derby Trial (G3), Hierro and Paynter; Jerome Stakes (G2) winner The Lumber Guy and Sagamore Farm’s stakes-placed colt Tiger Walk.

The Preakness is limited to 14 starters but for the first time will have two available spots for also-eligibles. Seventeen of the last 20 years have seen double-digit starters.

I’ll Have Another will be O’Neill’s first Preakness starter. He last ran a horse in Maryland six years ago when Thor’s Echo took the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G1) on his way to an Eclipse Award as the nation’s top sprinter. The colt’s owner, Paul Reddam, has had one previous Preakness starter, Wilko, who was 12th in 2005.

About two decades ago, Hall of  Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas started a trend of waiting until the Tuesday or Wednesday of Preakness week before shipping to Baltimore. That approach became the norm, but O’Neill is anxious to get his colt to Pimlico.

“I want to do whatever is in the best interest of the horse,” O’Neill said. “On paper, getting there early made sense. As long as the track is open and they let us train on it, we’re in. We’re looking forward to getting to Baltimore.”

I’ll Have Another and seven other O’Neill horses will arrive in Baltimore on a Tex Sutton charter that is expected to land at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport around 4:30 p.m. Eastern. The O’Neill runners will be bedded down in Barn D, next to the Preakness Stakes barn.

Baffert’s Preakness candidates will stay at Churchill Downs this week. He is scheduled to return to Kentucky from California next weekend to look at his horses and decide their Preakness status.

Baffert has won the Preakness with his Derby winners, Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet, 1998; War Emblem, 2002, and with two horses who finished out the money in the Derby, Point Given in 2001 and Lookin At Lucky in 2010. 

Before he headed home to California Sunday, Baffert said it was too early to tell whether Bodemeister might be able to run in the Preakness after setting a fast pace in the Derby.

“With Lookin At Lucky, the day after the Derby I told them, ‘We’re not going to run,’” Baffert said. “The next Monday I said, ‘Not only are we going, we’re going to win this.’ I’ve got to wait and see if he shows me a spark.”

Baffert said he has found success at Pimlico by being patient and running horses he felt were ready to win.

“I’ve won the Preakness because I’ve gone over there with a horse that I knew was really doing well and was a good horse,” he said.  “I always use the Derby as a prep for the Preakness.”

Yetta Feltner/Shoot-It Photography
I’ll Have Another beats Bodemeister to win the 138th Kentucky Derby.

I’ll be blunt. ESPN/ABC should stick to televising the other “sports” and leave horseracing to the professional networks that broadcast it all the time.

The real horseracing networks, TVG and HRTV, were prohibited from showing races at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes because of a contractual agreement the racetrack had with ESPN/ABC. Giving one network the “golden apple” at a sporting event is nothing new, but that network, i.e. ESPN/ABC, should show the racing that is going on and forget about all the mindless dribble and pabulum they are feeding the audience.

Once NBC’s “rights” began on Saturday, which was 4 p.m. EDT, TVG and HRTV could no longer show live racing from Belmont Park. The True North Handicap, the Betfair TVG Acorn Stakes and the Woodford Reserve Manhattan were never shown by ESPN/ABC. And we’re talking about a Grade 2 and two Grade 1 races.

What was ESPN/ABC showing? “Human-interest stories,” or at least that’s what they thought they were. I guess when you are paying at least six high-profile announcers; you had better get your money out of them.

One of the funniest things was Randy Moss and his touch-screen. Of course there were 12 horses in the field and the network had to cut to him for three segments (four horses each time). My racing form provided more information than Moss was able to impart about the horses.

If ESPN/ABC wants to broadcast this junk, then let TVG and HRTV at least show other races at the track on that day. None of the announcers for ESPN/ABC even said who won the Acorn, True North or Manhattan. That’s the least they could have done.

The biggest joke of the whole day was the broadcast of the Belmont Stakes. Look, I know the network has a blimp, but please save those shots for replays. Even the start of the race showed very little. They had a ground-level camera at the starting gate and that camera followed the field a sixteenth of a mile after the start and it showed very little of what was going on.

The network then jumped to a head-on shot, and if it had not been for track announcer Tom Durkin describing the action, I would not have known who was where. They finally went to a “normal” shot as the field rounded the clubhouse turn, but as soon as it reached the backstretch it was time for the “money” shot. Yep, you guessed it, the BLIMP.

This shot lasted for at least a quarter-of-a-mile, and then switched back to a normal shot. Of course, I could only see the top four horses. If the network wants to get “fancy,” they should at least pay attention to a track feed where they show a split screen. It never happened once in the 2:31 plus minutes that it took to run the race.

Even when the horses reached the top of the stretch the camera angle still was awkward and I had trouble telling who was in contention.

This is not ranting or griping from a guy who only watches horseracing three or four times a year. I watch between 50 and a100 races nearly every day. It’s my job, so I know what I’m talking about.

It’s too bad ESPN/ABC thinks splash tells a better story than just showing a race or races.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ice Box, the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, and stablemate Fly Down, the third choice at 9-2, arrived at Belmont Park Wednesday afternoon after an uneventful van ride from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“They’re next to each other (Fly Down drew post position 5 and Ice Box drew post 6) so that’s good,” said the duo’s Hall of Fame trainer, Nick Zito. “We’re closers, so I like being pretty close inside. The jockeys can see the way the race develops.”

Zito, who has saddled 22 Belmont Stakes starters, winning with a pair of longshots in Birdstone (2004) and Da’ Tara (2008), finds himself in a different role this year.

there’s more pressure, anxiety, on the other hand, if they run well, you have to be content,” said Zito.

ELMONT, N.Y. –  Saturday’s 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, which marks the finish line for the 2010 Triple Crown, could be the starting point for racing’s next star.

Last year, Summer Bird, an unknown who had finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby, ran off with an upset victory in the 1½-mile Belmont and with subsequent wins in the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup went onto divisional honors as the nation’s top 3-Year-Old colt.

This year, a dozen colts and geldings will enter the starting gate at BelmontPark at 6:32 p.m. EDT hoping to follow the same career path.

Supporting the Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown, is a glittering 12-race undercard that includes the 80th running of the Betfair TVG Acorn for 3-year-old fillies; the 14th running of the Grade 1 Just a Game for fillies and mares on the turf; the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Manhattan on the turf; the Grade 2 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs and the Grade 2 True North at six furlongs.

The Belmont is the final leg of The New York Racing Association, Inc.’s (NYRA) Guaranteed $1 million All-Stakes Pick 4 and its Guaranteed $1 million All-Stakes Pick 6. Race coverage begins on ESPN at noon and goes until 5 p.m., with ABC televising the race from 5-7 p.m.

Brooklyn-born Nick Zito will be trying for a third career Belmont Stakes victory, and unlike his last two, which ended the 2004 and 2008 Triple Crown bids of Smarty Jones and Big Brown, the Hall of Fame trainer will be sending out a pair of favorites in Ice Box and Fly Down.

Owned by Robert LaPenta, Ice Box is one of two Grade 1 winners in the field, having closed from last to win the Florida Derby at 20-1. But it was his desperate run to make up almost 22 lengths in the Kentucky Derby to finish second to Super Saver that caught everyone’s attention, and with the son of Pulpit, Zito is sitting on his first Belmont favorite since Strike the Gold finished second in 1991.

Jose Lezcano has the mount on the 3-1 morning-line favorite from post position 6.

The second of Zito’s 1-2 Belmont punch has something on his resume that no other Belmont starter has – a win over the racetrack. Richard C. Pell’s Fly Down bounced back from a troubled ninth in the Louisiana Derby to win the Grade 2 Dwyer on May 8. The Mineshaft colt will be ridden by Belmont Stakes-winning jockey John Velazquez, who was aboard Fly Down when he finished third in his debut at Belmont last fall.

Velazquez, who piloted the filly Rags to Riches to her historic Belmont victory in 2007, and Fly Down break next to his stablemate from post position 5 at 9-2.

“It’s all been positive, and I want to keep it that way,” said Zito of his two entrants.

Fly Down also owns a pair of victories over the colt who’s been turning heads during the mornings at Belmont Park – Donald R. Dizney’s First Dude, the 17-hands-tall son of Stephen Got Even who finished second in the Preakness on May 15.

Second to Fly Down in a maiden race at Churchill Downs on November 28, First Dude (who is named after former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd) also couldn’t hold him off in an allowance at Gulfstream Park in February, beaten a head. Fifth in the Florida Derby behind Ice Box, First Dude was third after getting bounced around at the start of the Blue Grass before his game second to Lookin At Lucky.

“He’s a big, strong, long-striding colt, and this track should suit him,” said trainer Dale Romans. “It’s time to turn the tables.”

Ramon Dominguez, the leading rider in New York this year, has the mount on the 7-2 morning-line choice from post position 11.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who earned his first Kentucky Derby victory this year, and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who notched his fifth Preakness just under three weeks ago, are both in the Belmont, but with different horses.

Pletcher, who until last week did not have a Belmont starter, called an audible and entered Alain and Gerard Wertheimer’s homebred Interactif, who will be making his first start on conventional dirt since finishing eighth in the Grade 2 Sanford at Saratoga as a 2-year-old. The last time Pletcher made a last-minute decision to run in the Belmont was three years ago, when he sent out Rags to Riches to become the first filly to win the race in 102 years.

Javier Castellano rides the son of Broken Vow, 12-1 on the morning line, from post position 12.

Like Pletcher, Baffert also owns a Belmont victory, having scored in 2001 with Point Given.  But, next to Woody Stephens’ five straight Belmont victories, Baffert’s Belmont legend looms large as he has thrice brought horses to the brink of the Triple Crown, only to be denied each time – Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and War Emblem in 2002.

The Baffert-trained Game On Dude, whose silks sport an orange basketball on a blue background, was purchased by Bernard Schiappa, the Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable and Diamond Pride LLC with the intent of making one of the spring classics, and the gelding earned his way into the Belmont with a victory in the Grade 2 Lone Star Derby.

“I am looking forward to seeing what he will do going a distance of ground,” said Baffert. “That’s the key to the Belmont – having a horse who can go that far.”

Martin Garcia, who won the Preakness with Lookin At Lucky, is aboard Game On Dude in his first ride at BelmontPark. The gelding is 10-1 on the morning line from post position 8.

WinStar Farm already has a classic win this spring with Super Saver’s Derby victory and will be trying for a second with Drosselmeyer, a son of Distorted Humor who finished second in the Dwyer on May 8. Never off the board in eight lifetime starts, the chestnut colt will be Bill Mott’s first Belmont starter since Vision and Verse finished second in 1999 for the Hall of Fame trainer.

“I think he’s in there with a chance,” said Mott.

Mike Smith rides the 12-1 choice from post position 7.

A handful of trainers will be sending out their first Belmont Stakes starters, including Alexis Barba with Make Music for Me, Michael Maker with Stately Victor, and Steve Margolis with Stay Put.

Barba, 57, would become the first woman to saddle a winner in a Triple Crown event should Make Music for Me win. Twice second to 2-Year-Old champion Lookin At  Lucky – in the Del Mar Futurity and Best Pal – Make Music for Me, owned by Ellen and Peter Johnson, rallied from last to finish fourth in the Kentucky Derby in his first start on dirt.

Since 1984, eight women have sent out Belmont starters, the most recent of which was Linda Rice, whose Supervisor finished fifth in 2003.

Joel Rosario, who has never ridden at BelmontPark, has the mount on the 10-1 choice from post position 4.

F. Thomas and Jack Conway’s Stately Victor owns the distinction of being the only other Grade 1 winner in the field besides Ice Box, having won the Blue Grass over an artificial surface at odds of 41-1, highest in that race’s history.  Subsequently eighth in the Derby, the son of Ghostzapper, 15-1, will be ridden from post position 9 by Alan Garcia, who won the 2008 Belmont aboard Da’ Tara.

Richard, Bertram, and Elaine Klein’s Stay Put will be making his first start in Grade 1 company in the Belmont. Fifth in his only two graded stakes starts, the Grade 2 Risen Star and the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, the Broken Vow colt got his shot in the Belmont after a solid victory in an optional claimer on Derby Day at Churchill Downs.

Jockey Jamie Theriot makes his BelmontPark debut with Stay Put, 20-1 from post position 10.

The fourth trainer with a Belmont victory, and the one with the best batting average in the race, is Kiaran McLaughlin, who sends out Fantasy Lane Stable’s Uptowncharlybrown. McLaughlin won the Belmont in 2006 with his first starter, Jazil, in a race that, like this year, lacked both Derby and Preakness winners.

Winner of his first two starts at Tampa Bay Downs, the Limehouse colt was trained by the late Alan Seewald, who passed away on April 12, after which Uptowncharlybrown was transferred to McLaughlin. Third in the Grade 2 Lexington at Keeneland in his most recent start, Uptowncharlybrown will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh as the 10-1 choice from post 3.

“He’s been doing great since we got him, and I am excited about our chances,” said McLaughlin, who finished fourth in last year’s Belmont with CharitableMan. “I’m looking forward to running him.”

Ike and Dawn Thrash are hoping for a good conclusion to their Triple Crown experience with Dave in Dixie, as their promising Preakness prospect, Hurricane Ike, was withdrawn from consideration from that race with an injury. Dave in Dixie, who was second to Caracortado in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis in his best performance of the year, will be ridden by Calvin Borel, appropriately enough, from the rail.

Rounding out the field is Lawrence Roman’s Spangled Star who in his stakes debut finished third to Afleet Again and Ibboyee in the Grade 3 Wither at Aqueduct on April 24. Trained by Richard Dutrow Jr. and ridden by Garrett Gomez, the Distorted Humor colt breaks from post position 2 at 30-1.

Parking gates open for the Belmont at 8:15 a.m., with post time for the first of 13 races set for 11:35 a.m.

The post positions for Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5, with jockeys and morning-line odds.

1. Dave in Dixie, Jockey Calvin Borel, Odds – 20-1
2. Spangled Star,  Garrett Gomez,  30-1
3. Uptowncharlybrown, Rajiv Maragh,  10-1
4. Make Music for Me, Joel Rosario, 10-1
5. Fly Down, John Velazquez, 9-2
6. Ice Box, Jose Lezcano, 3-1
7. Drosselmeyer, Mike Smith, 12-1
8. Game On Dude, Martin Garcia, 10-1
9. Stately Victor, Alan Garcia, 15-1
10. Stay Put, Jamie Theriot,  20-1
11. First Dude, Ramon Dominguez, 7-2
12. Interactif, Javier Castellano, 12-1

The 142nd running of the Belmont will be the first time since 2006 neither Kentucky Derby or Preakness winners have run and only third since 1970.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Interactif will compete in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, trainer Todd Pletcher announced Monday morning. With the presence of Interactif, the Belmont is now expected to feature a field of 12.

Pletcher and owner Alain Wertheimer had originally planned to send Interactif to Friday’s Grade 3 Hill Prince on the turf, but began to consider the Belmont following a promising workout on May 22 when the son of Broken Vow covered six furlongs on the main track in 1:14.29.

“We decided to call an audible and send him to the Belmont,” said Pletcher. “Two works ago, we had it in our minds, and after surveying the field we decided to go.”

Javier Castellano will have the mount aboard Interactif, who will be making his first start on conventional dirt since an eighth in the Grade 2 Sanford at Saratoga in July. He closed his juvenile campaign with victories in the Grade 3 With Anticipation and Grade 3 Bourbon on the grass before finishing a close third in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Second by a nose in the HallandaleBeach on the turf at Gulfstream in his sophomore debut, Interactif has competed over synthetic surfaces in his last two starts, finishing second to Sidney’s Candy in the Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita and fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland.

“His second to Sidney’s Candy in the San Felipe was very good, although we were a little disappointed with his performance in the Blue Grass,” said Pletcher. “We had the Derby in mind after [the Blue Grass], but thought the three weeks might be a little fast back.”